CSA - Week 17

CSA - Week 17

Posted by: Kristie

It's nearing wreath-making season at Camp Joy. All year long, we cut flowers from the garden and hang them up to dry in the big house. In mid-October, we begin creating wreaths of all shapes and sizes from the dried flowers to sell at the farm's largest fundraiser of the year, the Wreath Sale. In preparation for this process, we've begun to clear out the big house living room, and lo and behold, what did we find? Two large winter squashes from last season - and much to our surprise, they both seem to have stored well! The variety: Marina di Chiogga! I have to admit that I had been scheming to add those squashes to my compost pile. I never would have guessed that they were still in good condition! It looks like we have some winter squash pies in our near future.



What's in your basket this week? onions, potatoes, apples, sweet peppers, beans, carrots, cucumbers, summer squash, garlic, grapes, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, arugula, cilantro, lettuce, kale, pears, frisee.

CSA - Week 17 Recipes

Welcome to our recipes for Week 17 of the CSA!

Sweet Onion Souffle

2 tablespoons butter
3 medium sweet onions, chopped
5 slices fresh bread, cut into cubes
10 ounces evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded parmesean cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add chopped onions and saute 10-15 minutes or until tender. Place onions and bread cubes in large bowl. Stir in milk, eggs, 3/4 cup cheese and salt. Pour into lightly greased 1 1/2qt souffle or baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until set.

Maple Glazed Carrots

1 ½ lb of carrots, peeled and cut into half-inch thick rounds
½ cup of water
3 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, bring all ingredients to boil. Reduce heat to medium, then cover and simmer for 8 minutes. Uncover and cook until the juices are reduced to glaze (4-5 minutes). Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Note: though none of the ingredients in the following recipe come in your basket, I couldn't resist including it in the recipe list this week. Today is Jim Nelson's birthday, and we all enjoyed partaking in this cake to celebrate. It's especially delicious with vanilla Coconut Bliss!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

4 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus additional for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375°F and butter an 8-inch round baking pan. Line bottom with a round of wax paper and butter paper.
Chop chocolate into small pieces. In a double boiler or metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until smooth. Remove top of double boiler or bowl from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs and whisk well. Sift 1/2 cup cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 25 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto a serving plate.
Dust cake with additional cocoa powder. (Cake keeps, after being cooled completely, in an airtight container, 1 week.)

CSA – Week 16

Posted by: Robert

CSA – Week 16

Please allow me to introduce myself on this fine first day of October, 2010. My name is Robert, and I came to Camp Joy last week (by bike!) as an apprentice for the final two months of the season.

I've been pleasantly overwhelmed by the variety of activity going on here over the course of the past week, and I wanted to share with you a couple of activities I found particularly exciting:

Canning

Since arriving, we've pressed apple juice and made raspberry jam. As fall closes in, we need to take time to preserve our fruits and vegetables, ensuring fresh and local sustenance throughout the chilly winter season.

The canning process is quite simple, and now is the time to learn! (There are a number of websites that explain the canning process.) Canning is a great excuse to get together with a group of friends.

Cultivating

The Collinear Hoe, which we use to swiftly pull across our tender garden beds, is not merely an implement to weed. Since arriving at Camp Joy, I've learned that "weeding" is really an act of "cultivation." Cultivation means gently re-arranging our soil to let water, air, and nutrients flow freely, and removing the stubborn plants that take water, nutrients, and root space from the plants we want to see succeed.

This Week's CSA

What's in your box this week? onions, potatoes, garlic, leeks, sweet peppers, pears, apples, hot peppers, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, dill, frisee, rosemary, kale, and basil.

Enjoy!

CSA – Week 16 Recipes

Posted by: Robert

CSA – Week 16 Recipes

Creamy Dill Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

1 cup sour cream

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/4 cup minced fresh dill

3 medium cucumbers , sliced, salted, and drained (see directions)

1/2 medium red onion , sliced very thin, salted and drained with cucumbers

Directions

To prepare the cucumbers: Peel, halve lengthwise, and scoop seeds from cucumbers. Stack halves flat side down; slice diagonally 1/4-inch thick. Toss with 1 tablespoon salt in strainer or colander set over bowl; weight with water-filled, one-gallon-sized zipper-lock freezer bag, sealed tight. Drain for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 hours. Transfer to medium bowl; reserve for further use.

Whisk first four ingredients, and salt and pepper to taste, in medium bowl. Add cucumbers and onion; toss to coat. Serve chilled, adjusting seasonings if necessary.

Pear Crisp

Ingredients

3/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts (3 ounces), see note above

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (2 1/2 ounces)

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (1 3/4 ounces)

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Table salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon

3 pounds ripe but firm pears (6-7 medium)

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Process nuts, flour, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in food processor until nuts are finely chopped, about nine 1-second pulses. Drizzle butter over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles crumbly wet sand, about five 1-second pulses, pausing halfway through to scrape down sides and bottom of workbowl. Set aside while preparing fruit.

2. Whisk remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and pinch of salt together in large bowl. Peel pears, then halve and core each (see illustrations below). Cut each half into 4 wedges and then cut in half crosswise (pieces should be about 1 1/2 inches). Gently toss pears with sugar mixture and transfer to 8-inch-square baking dish.

3. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit, breaking up any large chunks. Bake until fruit is bubbling around edges and topping is deep golden brown, 27 to 32 minutes. Cool on wire rack until warm, at least 15 minutes, and serve.

CSA - Week 15

Posted by: Kristie

CSA - Week 15

Happy First Day of Fall! Are you ready for the summer to be over? With tomatoes and sweet peppers in full swing, it's hard to feel that the summer is actually over.

But it does feel like the season at Camp Joy is shifting. We've lost two of our apprentices from the summer (Mika and Whitney), and we've gained a new person for the remainder of the season: Robert. The nights are getting cooler and the sun is disappearing over the hills earlier and earlier each evening. We're deep in canning, drying, freezing, and other preserving projects. (Hint: take advantage of the abundance table at CSA pick-up and experiment with your own preserving projects!) We've been juicing our apples and pears on a weekly basis. And I'm sure the days of firing up the woodstove are just around the corner.

One cannot live and work on the farm without tangibly feeling the shifting of the seasons. The rise and setting of the sun affect the hours we spend in the garden. Scorching hot sun mid-day sends us inside for siestas, extending our work day into the cooler evening hours. The temperature of the air governs the amount of time we spend chopping wood, creating kindling, and building fires in the woodstove. The first fruits of the season bring greater variety to our meals, and later, the abundance draws us to long hours in the kitchen, preserving. When the rains begin in the fall, our time spent irrigating the garden is freed up, as we attempt to "flood-proof" the farm, bringing the curing garlic and onions indoors...When will the rains begin this year? Time will tell.

What's in your box this week? onions, potatoes, garlic, leeks, sweet peppers, pears, apples, hot peppers, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, dill, frisee, rosemary, kale, and basil.

CSA - Week 15 Recipes

Posted by: Kristie

CSA - Week 15 Recipes

Pear Galette

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons unsalted butter—5 tablespoons cut into small pieces and chilled, 2 tablespoons melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon milk
2 tablespoons apricot preserves, strained
2 large Bosc pears
1/2 teaspoon very hot water

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425°. In a medium bowl, toss the flour with 1 teaspoon of the sugar and the salt. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg over the flour mixture and stir. Working quickly, gather the dough into a smooth mass, squeezing it gently. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat it into a 5-inch disk. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm but not hard, about 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 9 1/2 -inch round, turning it clockwise an inch or two each time you roll to maintain an even shape. Transfer the dough to a heavy flat baking sheet. Fold up 1/4 inch of the edge of the dough to form a neat rim. Using a knife, score the rim in a decorative pattern. Brush the rim with a little of the remaining beaten egg. Brush 1 tablespoon of the apricot preserves over the bottom of the dough and refrigerate while you prepare the pears.
Peel, quarter and core the pears. Slice each quarter lengthwise into 5 thin wedges. Arrange all but 6 of the pear wedges on the dough in a spoke pattern, overlapping them slightly. Cut the remaining pear wedges and arrange them in the center of the tart to form a decorative rose. Brush the pear slices with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Bake the galette in the middle of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pears are tender and the pastry is crisp and golden. Carefully slide the galette onto a rack to cool slightly.
Stir the hot water into the remaining 1 tablespoon of apricot preserves and brush on the pears. Serve the galette at room temperature.

POTATO AND LEEK SOUP

2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 leeks, chopped
2 tablespoons flour
4 cups chicken stock (or veggie stock)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup low fat milk

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and leeks, sauté gently until soft. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in stock.
Add potatoes, bring to the boil, simmer gently for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Stir in milk and seasonings.

Puree soup in a blender. Add salt and pepper to taste.

CSA - Week 14!

Posted by: Kristie

What was in your box this week? bush beans, garlic, eggplant, sweet peppers, tomatillos, pears, onions, apples, tomatoes, summer squash, carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, dill, arugula, and basil.


What's happening at Camp Joy this week? Well, our most important news is that two of our cherished apprentices, Mika and Whitney, are leaving this week. They have been more than helpful on the farm, sharing their passion for gardening and preserving. Mika and Whitney have helped define this season at Camp Joy - it's hard to imagine the community without them. Though we're sad to see them go, we wish them well in their future endeavors. Mika is returning to UCSC for the last quarter of her undergraduate degree in Sustainable Agriculture. And Whitney is moving to the Bay Area to work for a dynamic Jewish environmental nonprofit.