9-30-2008
CSA Newsletter
September 30th, 2008
In gardens, beauty is a by-product. The main business is sex and death.
~Sam Llewelyn
Hello, hope you are enjoying this gorgeous fall as much as we are! The weather has been perfect for getting the outside beds ready for winter and pulling in the last of the harvest. Next week (October 8th) will be our last CSA distribution.
The Harvest
Salad mix
¾# baby spinach
¼# arugula
Onions (Rossa Di Milano and Valencia)
Cabbage (Red Integro or Copenhagen Market)
Small Sugar Pumpkin
U-pick cherry tomatoes
1 bunch herbs (cilantro, dill, mint, tarragon, or chives)
Onions – This is just a taster of what you will get next week. Rossa Di Milano and Valencia are storage onions. I pulled them last week – so the onions you are getting this week have not fully cured – that means that they will not keep as long as cured storage onions. They will keep just fine for a week or two, but they probably shouldn’t be stored for a month. These onions should not be kept in the fridge, but in a cool/dry location.
Rossa Di Milano is a mildly hot midsized Italian variety. It is an excellent keeper.
Valencia is a Utah strain of Yellow Sweet Spanish onion – mild flavor and good storage life.
Small Sugar Pumpkin – This strain dates back to the 1800’s. It has high quality, string-less, thick, sweet flesh that makes delicious pies. Not all of them are orange right now…..the season wasn’t quite long enough for them to ripen on the vine. If you get one that’s partially green, put it in a sunny location (outside is fine) and I think…….it will finish coloring up. I wouldn’t bother cooking with it until it is orange.
Anyway, the pumkins will be outside on the table – please take one.
Becca’s Nutritional Tip
Pumpkins are a great source of calcium, fiber, iron, and zinc – all nutrients that are important for strong immunity. But don’t forget about those pumpkin seeds! Pumpkin seeds are abundant in protease inhibitors which fight intestinal viruses. Also, the oil in the pumpkin seeds helps to fight inflammation. So whether using a pumpkin for baking, soup, or decoration, make sure to bake the seeds and enjoy throughout the week as a healthy snack.
The News
Thank you to all of you who sent in your survey – I appreciate all the feedback.
As you may have noticed, the newsletter has gotten a bit more colorful. Let me know what you think. I am trying to highlight first time vegetables and important information for those of you who like to skim the newsletters. Is it too much?
The Recipe
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe
INGREDIENTS
• One medium sized pumpkin
• Salt
• Olive oil
METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.
2 In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a tablespoon of salt for every cup of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
3 Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack for 20 minutes or until the seeds begin to brown. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.
**I like to also add a little cayenne pepper (just a little) to my toasted pumpkin seeds.
Tempting Pumpkin Pie
Flaky Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water
Filling:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
15 ounces pumpkin
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
Mix flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Roll pastry, using floured rolling pin, into circle 2 inches larger than upside-down pie plate, 9 x 1-1/4 inches. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.
Trim overhanging edge of pastry even with plate. Cut scraps of rolled pastry with tiny cookie cutter. Sprinkle cutouts with sugar; press on pastry edge.
Heat oven to 425 F.
Beat eggs slightly in medium bowl with wire whisk or hand beater. Beat in remaining ingredients.
To prevent spilling, place pastry-lined pie plate on oven rack. Pour filling into pie plate. Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 F. Bake about 45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 4 hours or until chilled. Immediately refrigerate any remaining pie after serving.
Note:
The cutouts that top the filling are baked on a cookie sheet while the oven is at 425°F. It will take just a few minutes for them to bake golden brown. Let cool. Once pie has baked and cooled, top with baked pastry.
Preparing Filling
Wash your pumpkin to remove any dirt. Using a large chef's knife, cut the pumpkin into 6 or 8 wedges, depending on the size of the pumpkin.
The easiest way to remove the seeds, and pulp is to use a filleting knife along the inside of the wedges.
With a little practice, this will leave little or no scraping needed.
Arrange the pumpkin wedges in a large roasting or sheet pan and bake, uncovered, for one hour at 325 F, and two more hours at 300 F.
The meat should be tender all throughout, and not watery under the dry skin that formed. Turn off the oven and leave the door cracked for ventilation. Let the pumpkin cool and continue to dry for several more hours.
Remove the skin and any exceptionally dry or leathery parts, and puree thoroughly.
Please note that most of the dry surface of the meat is still sufficiently tender to be used, but probably not the stem corners. Because the pulp is so dry, it will take several minutes with the food processor, and a number of stirs and scrapes, before the pulp liquefies enough to turn over by itself and puree properly. Once it does this, a good minute or more of pureeing will result in a wonderfully smooth, pumpkin paste. Store in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator.
The pumpkin puree is now ready for use.
Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipe
INGREDIENTS
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin*
5 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
METHOD
1 Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more.
2 Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3 Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.
4 With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream. Adjust seasonings to taste. If a little too spicy, add more cream to cool it down. You might want to add a teaspoon of salt.
Serve in individual bowls. Sprinkle the top of each with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Serves 8.
*To make pumpkin purée, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use.
Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll see you tomorrow!
Daisy
September 30th, 2008
In gardens, beauty is a by-product. The main business is sex and death.
~Sam Llewelyn
Hello, hope you are enjoying this gorgeous fall as much as we are! The weather has been perfect for getting the outside beds ready for winter and pulling in the last of the harvest. Next week (October 8th) will be our last CSA distribution.
The Harvest
Salad mix
¾# baby spinach
¼# arugula
Onions (Rossa Di Milano and Valencia)
Cabbage (Red Integro or Copenhagen Market)
Small Sugar Pumpkin
U-pick cherry tomatoes
1 bunch herbs (cilantro, dill, mint, tarragon, or chives)
Onions – This is just a taster of what you will get next week. Rossa Di Milano and Valencia are storage onions. I pulled them last week – so the onions you are getting this week have not fully cured – that means that they will not keep as long as cured storage onions. They will keep just fine for a week or two, but they probably shouldn’t be stored for a month. These onions should not be kept in the fridge, but in a cool/dry location.
Rossa Di Milano is a mildly hot midsized Italian variety. It is an excellent keeper.
Valencia is a Utah strain of Yellow Sweet Spanish onion – mild flavor and good storage life.
Small Sugar Pumpkin – This strain dates back to the 1800’s. It has high quality, string-less, thick, sweet flesh that makes delicious pies. Not all of them are orange right now…..the season wasn’t quite long enough for them to ripen on the vine. If you get one that’s partially green, put it in a sunny location (outside is fine) and I think…….it will finish coloring up. I wouldn’t bother cooking with it until it is orange.
Anyway, the pumkins will be outside on the table – please take one.
Becca’s Nutritional Tip
Pumpkins are a great source of calcium, fiber, iron, and zinc – all nutrients that are important for strong immunity. But don’t forget about those pumpkin seeds! Pumpkin seeds are abundant in protease inhibitors which fight intestinal viruses. Also, the oil in the pumpkin seeds helps to fight inflammation. So whether using a pumpkin for baking, soup, or decoration, make sure to bake the seeds and enjoy throughout the week as a healthy snack.
The News
Thank you to all of you who sent in your survey – I appreciate all the feedback.
As you may have noticed, the newsletter has gotten a bit more colorful. Let me know what you think. I am trying to highlight first time vegetables and important information for those of you who like to skim the newsletters. Is it too much?
The Recipe
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe
INGREDIENTS
• One medium sized pumpkin
• Salt
• Olive oil
METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.
2 In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a tablespoon of salt for every cup of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
3 Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack for 20 minutes or until the seeds begin to brown. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.
**I like to also add a little cayenne pepper (just a little) to my toasted pumpkin seeds.
Tempting Pumpkin Pie
Flaky Pastry:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water
Filling:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
15 ounces pumpkin
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
Mix flour and salt in medium bowl. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Roll pastry, using floured rolling pin, into circle 2 inches larger than upside-down pie plate, 9 x 1-1/4 inches. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.
Trim overhanging edge of pastry even with plate. Cut scraps of rolled pastry with tiny cookie cutter. Sprinkle cutouts with sugar; press on pastry edge.
Heat oven to 425 F.
Beat eggs slightly in medium bowl with wire whisk or hand beater. Beat in remaining ingredients.
To prevent spilling, place pastry-lined pie plate on oven rack. Pour filling into pie plate. Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 F. Bake about 45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 4 hours or until chilled. Immediately refrigerate any remaining pie after serving.
Note:
The cutouts that top the filling are baked on a cookie sheet while the oven is at 425°F. It will take just a few minutes for them to bake golden brown. Let cool. Once pie has baked and cooled, top with baked pastry.
Preparing Filling
Wash your pumpkin to remove any dirt. Using a large chef's knife, cut the pumpkin into 6 or 8 wedges, depending on the size of the pumpkin.
The easiest way to remove the seeds, and pulp is to use a filleting knife along the inside of the wedges.
With a little practice, this will leave little or no scraping needed.
Arrange the pumpkin wedges in a large roasting or sheet pan and bake, uncovered, for one hour at 325 F, and two more hours at 300 F.
The meat should be tender all throughout, and not watery under the dry skin that formed. Turn off the oven and leave the door cracked for ventilation. Let the pumpkin cool and continue to dry for several more hours.
Remove the skin and any exceptionally dry or leathery parts, and puree thoroughly.
Please note that most of the dry surface of the meat is still sufficiently tender to be used, but probably not the stem corners. Because the pulp is so dry, it will take several minutes with the food processor, and a number of stirs and scrapes, before the pulp liquefies enough to turn over by itself and puree properly. Once it does this, a good minute or more of pureeing will result in a wonderfully smooth, pumpkin paste. Store in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator.
The pumpkin puree is now ready for use.
Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipe
INGREDIENTS
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
6 cups of chopped roasted pumpkin*
5 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
METHOD
1 Melt butter in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add spices and stir for a minute more.
2 Add pumpkin and 5 cups of chicken broth; blend well. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3 Transfer soup, in batches, to a blender or food processor. Cover tightly and blend until smooth. Return soup to saucepan.
4 With the soup on low heat, add brown sugar and mix. Slowly add milk while stirring to incorporate. Add cream. Adjust seasonings to taste. If a little too spicy, add more cream to cool it down. You might want to add a teaspoon of salt.
Serve in individual bowls. Sprinkle the top of each with toasted pumpkin seeds.
Serves 8.
*To make pumpkin purée, cut a sugar pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a tin-foil lined baking pan. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use.
Well, that’s all for this week. I’ll see you tomorrow!
Daisy
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