TWO SMALL FARMS
Community Supported Agriculture
May 19, 20, 21 2010
Tomato Tying, by Andy Griffin
Recipes and Notes
Here at Mariquita Farm we’re getting ready to do the
(see www.mariquita.com/recipes for more recipes)
“Florida Weave.” That may sound like a square dance, but
How I Would Cook Up This Box if Time Were Short This
actually the “Florida Weave” describes a common way to
Week, by Julia: Eat the strawberries and carrots raw. Make
stake up tomato plants.
simple green salads with my favorite salad dressings while
Along the Central Coast April 15th is generally considered
adding bits of goat cheese and toasted nuts so they're extra
the “frost-free” date. From mid-April on out we’re unlikely to
yummy. Make a salad out of the spinach, or: cook up all of the
suffer any overnight freezing. Mother Nature makes no
spinach and eat it over rice with some
promises about this, and I can
purchased curry sauce (fast dinner or
remember various frosts after the 15th
lunch! Add yogurt and it's even better.)
over the years, but tomatoes are frostChop the scallions on the spinach dish
tender so I always wait to start planting
and/or the green salads. Cook up the leeks
my frost-tender tomato in Hollister
Yellow Carrots MF
all at once on the weekend for a simple
until after this date. Not long after
leek and potato soup. Peas: I'd shell them
HG
Strawberries
planting tomatoes it’s time to start tying
while on the phone or watching a movie,
English Peas OR New
them.
or make another family member do it.
Russet Potatoes MF
Not all tomatoes require tying.
Then a simple pea sauté for lunch, as a
Determinate type tomatoes set most of
side dish, added fresh to a salad, anything!
Salad Mix OR Lettuce HG
their flowers at once, so the harvest is
MF
Leeks OR Scallions
concentrated. Determinate tomatoes are
Seared Broccoli, from chef Jonathan
Young Spinach MF
often harvested by machine. But I don’t
Miller
grow tomatoes for processing. I prefer
Summer Squash HG OR
2 heads broccoli,
3 TBL olive oil
to grow the so-called indeterminate
*
halved
lengthwise
Broccoli
tomatoes, which flower over a long
(stems peeled)
period. A slow but sustained harvest
3 garlic cloves,
Flowers: Sweet Peas, Lavender, and ½ cup chicken stock
gives me time to market my crop, it
TF
sliced
Iris
gives my employees steady work, and
crushed pepper flakes
lemon
anyway, a big machine would be pretty
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and
silly in my small tomato patch.
sear the broccoli, cut side down, covered, until deeply brown
Even as indeterminate tomato vines set flower they continue
and caramelized on the cut side, 4-8 minutes, depending on
to keep growing....and growing....and growing. The old
your cook surface. Add the stock and cover again, steaming
fashioned types of tomatoes that I plant will sprawl all over if
the broccoli until cooked through, maybe another 5 minutes.
they’re not restrained, making them difficult to pick without
Remove the lid, add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook
stepping on the vines or missing hidden fruit. Also, to avoid
until the garlic turns golden, a couple minutes more. Put the
problems with mildew it’s a good idea to train the vines so
broccoli on a serving plate, seared side up, and finish with
that there is plenty of air movement through the foliage to help
some more oil, salt and pepper, and a hit of lemon.
keep the leaves dry.
So we pound wooden stakes at intervals down the tomato
Chilled Pea and Spinach Soup, from Gourmet
rows. And as the vines grow, we weave lines of twine down
1lb. fresh green peas, shelled 1 bunch spinach leaves (2
the rows, first on one side of the stakes, then on the other side
(about 1½ cups)
cups packed), washed well
and tie them to anchor posts at each end of the row. If we put
and spun dry
out a new line of twine every week or so we create a loose
1 tsp. dried tarragon
1 TBL sugar
barrier of sorts that holds the branches in place so that the
freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
foliage is supported in an upright hedge. That’s the Florida
to taste
Weave. Eventually I hope that lots of ripe fruit will hang
2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup plain yogurt
down, easy to pick, but that’s not entirely up to me. Farming is
1 cup ice
a dance with the elements, and nature calls the tune.
In a saucepan simmer peas, spinach, sugar, tarragon, salt, and
copyright 2010 Andrew Griffin
pepper in broth 15 minutes, or until peas are very tender.
Puree soup in a blender until smooth and transfer to a bowl.
From Mariquita Farm: yellow carrots, English peas, leeks,
Stir in ice and ½ cup yogurt, stirring until ice is melted and
scallions, spinach. From High Ground: lettuce, salad mix,
soup is chilled. Divide soup between 2 bowls and top with
strawberries, summer squash. From Lakeside Organics: broccoli.
remaining yogurt.
From Thomas Farm: flowers.
This Week
5/19/10 Volume 516
Two Small Farms P.O. Box 2065 Watsonville 95077
(831) 786-0625
[email protected]
Summer Squash with Ginger, from chef Jonathan
Miller
This is a nice Indian treatment of summer squash. It's also
flexible enough to add or change items based on availability.
1 potato
olive oil
1 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. cumin seed
½ tsp. ground fenugreek seed ½ tsp. kalonji seed
2 TBL fresh ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 Serrano pepper, chopped
1 TBL ground coriander seed
¼ tsp. turmeric
1 bunch scallions, thinly
sliced
2 lb. summer squash, cut into 1 tomato, chopped
bit sized chunks
1 TBL mint, chopped
Boil the potato for about 15 minutes, until it is cooked
through. Drain, cool, and peel. Cut into bite sized pieces. Heat
the oil in a large pan and add the mustard, cumin, fenugreek,
and kalonji seeds. Sauté a couple seconds, then add the ginger,
garlic, Serrano, coriander, and turmeric. Stir about 30 seconds.
Add the scallions and potato and cook until golden, a few
minutes. Remove to a bowl, then add the squash to the same
pan and sauté 5 minutes. Add the tomato, mint and a hit of
salt, cover, and cook until crisp-tender, a few more minutes.
Return the potato mixture to the pan and heat through. Check
for salt and finish with lots of black pepper.
Bulgur Salad with Chickpeas and Spinach, from
chef Jonathan Miller
Great with or without the spinach, make sure you serve this
the day it is made. Its liveliness dissipates after a day or so.
¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp. lemon zest
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup parsley
2 TBL yogurt
1 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. harissa
1 cup bulgur
1 can chickpeas, drained and
1 bunch radishes, halved and
rinsed
sliced
1 cup diced jicama
4 scallions, sliced
spinach
Make the dressing by putting the olive oil, zest, juice,
parsley, yogurt, salt, and harissa in a blender. Blend until
completely mixed.
Cook the bulgur; if it's coarse bulgur, boil it in 2 cups of
water and cover, reduce the heat to low, and steam for 12-15
minutes. (Check your package for instructions.) When cool,
mix the bulgur with the chickpeas, radishes, jicama, and
scallions. Fold the dressing into this mixture and check for
seasoning. Top the spinach with this and serve cool.
Peas and Carrots, from chef Jonathan Miller
Broth:
your bag of English peas
1 carrot, chopped
1 bunch scallions, chopped,
including the greens
5-8 lettuce leaves
1 bay leaf
1 cup fennel stalk or tough
outer sections of the bulb,
chopped
5 cups water
Shell the peas, and separate the peas from the pods. Chop
enough pods to measure a couple cups (no more than 3).
Combine the pods with the remaining ingredients and boil for
5/19/10 Volume 516
30 minutes. Strain and return the broth to the sauce pan and
reduce to ¾ cup.
To Finish:
Shelled peas
¾ cup broth
1 TBL butter
1 shallot, minced
4 yellow carrots, diced
¼ cup cream
1 TBL mint, chopped
Blanch the peas in salted boiling water until they are tender,
or about a minute. Drain.
In a saucepan, melt the butter and sauté the shallot until soft,
a couple minutes. Add the carrots and continue to sauté until
the carrots are softened, but not mushy. Add the broth and
bring to a simmer. Add the cream and the mint and return to a
simmer. Add some salt and pepper and check for seasoning.
Finally, add the peas and heat through. Check again for
seasoning.
Potato Leek Pizza, from chef Jonathan Miller
A great little pizza. Use your own dough or buy a pre-made
crust. Either way, this is a nice little twist on vichyssoise.
1 TBL butter
2 leeks (white and pale green
parts only), sliced into rounds
and separated
olive oil
1-2 new russets, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 TBL parsley, chopped
6 olives, chopped
2 oz smoked cheese, grated
2 oz provolone, grated
parmesan
In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the leeks. Stir to coat
all of them with the butter, then add a tablespoon of water,
cover, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Stir frequently
and make sure the leeks don't brown. Remove from heat.
Heat the oil in a skillet and add the potatoes and garlic and
half the parsley and a hit of salt. Cook a couple minutes,
stirring frequently, then add a couple tablespoons of water.
Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender, but not mushy,
about 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook off any excess
liquid. Remove from heat and combine the potatoes with the
olives.
Brush your pizza dough with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle
most of the smoked cheese and provolone on the crust. Top
with the leeks, then the potato mixture, then finish with the
remaining cheese. Cook in a 500˚ oven (if dough is uncooked)
or 400˚ if the crust is pre-baked. Bake for 12 minutes or so,
until all the cheeses have melted and/or the crust is cooked.
Finish with a grating of parmesan and the remaining parsley.
Braised Leeks with Lemon, from Gourmet
4 small/medium leeks, tough outer
2 TBL unsalted
leaves discarded and leeks trimmed to
butter
about 7 inches long and cut lengthwise
into quarters or eighths
1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
¼ cup chicken broth
In a shallow dish soak leeks in cold water to cover 15
minutes, rubbing occasionally to remove any grit. In a heavy
skillet melt butter over moderate heat. Lift leeks out of the
water and with water still clinging to them add to skillet. Cook
leeks, stirring occasionally, five minutes and add broth and
zest. Braise leeks, covered, 5 minutes, or until very tender, and
season with salt and pepper.
Two Small Farms P.O. Box 2065 Watsonville 95077
(831) 786-0625
[email protected]