BGF News 12/06/11

In this week’s box:

Broccoli Raab: Piracicaba and/or Brocolini

Choi: Win-win

Kohlrabi: Eder (green) and Kolibri (purple)

Mizuna

Radishes: asst.

Spinach Mix: Bordeaux (red stems), Olympia, Space & Tyee

Tapestry Salad Mix

Turnips: Hakurei & Scarlet Queen

For those with the Egg option: one dozen free-range eggs (assorted colors)

For those with the Cheese option: Classic Chevre & Cranberry Pecan Chevre

Featured Recipe(s) (see below):

Mizuna Greens Salad with Pomegranate Seeds and Sliced Apple

Garlicy Mizuna with Koh Reh Gu Su

Broccoli Raab, Garlic Scallions and Pasta

Precipitation last month: Rain 2.5”

Snow: 3.5”

Precipitation to date this month: Rain:1.8

What’s up on the farm?

The cold weather finally started to catch up with us in the past couple of weeks.  The forecast of lows in the teens brought a rush of early harvesting of field crops for today’s delivery.  You may notice some freeze damage on the broccoli raab, kohlrabi and mizuna, but hopefully nothing too serious.  There is still much remaining out in the fields, but we can only store so much volume, so there is always some end of the season loss out there.  The high tunnel crops continue to thrive, though their growth is greatly slowed by the diminishing daylight hours.  Nonetheless, they should continue to provide delicious, high quality produce for much of the winter.

Around the farm, the dogs are now sporting fancy blaze orange collars, as the hunting season is upon us and the traffic on our gravel road has certainly increased.  Electrical work continues in the packing shed and we have finally settled on a layout for the produce processing line that will take up the bulk of the interior space.  The new boiler “bungalow” is complete and we fire up the boiler for the first time this season, later this week. Thus will begin our annual woodcutting chores as well.

A few details on new stuff in the box:

Everything can go into plastic bags and store in your produce drawers.  Remember that the leaves of raab, kohlrabi, radish and turnips can all be used as greens in your favorite recipes.  The kohlrabi leaves can be used raw, save the others for cooked recipes.

Broccoli Raab: broccoli raab is not related to broccoli.  It is, however, closely related to turnips which is probably why the leaves look like turnip greens.  Lots of broccoli-like buds appear here and there but a head never forms.  It is grown as much for its long-standing, tasty mustard-like tops as for their multiple small florets with clusters of broccoli-like buds.  The stems are generally uniform in size (hence cook evenly) and need not be peeled.  Clean it as you would other greens, removing the bottom portion of the stems which appear tough (sometimes the stems are tougher than other times depending on the age of the raab).  They stems can be removed up to where the leaves begin, and sautéed before adding the leaves to the pan.  This vegetable is a source of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as potassium.

Mizuna: Mizuna contains vitamin C, folic acid, and antioxidants.  Like other brassica vegetables, it contains glucosinolates, which may inhibit the development of certain cancers.  Mizuna can be used fresh in a salad or cooked in eggs, stir-fries, soups, or steamed dishes.

Upcoming Events:

Downtown Winter Market: Friday & Saturday, December 16^th & 17^th, Capitol Square

Next (and final) CSA Delivery: Tuesday, December 20^th  

Is a weekly newsletter not enough for you and you want to read more about our daily adventures?  Follow us at our blog at http://beyondthebluegate.blogspot.com and on Facebook (just search Blue Gate Farm) and “Like” us.

That’s about it this week, if you have any questions or comments be sure to let us know. 

Best from the farm,

Jill & Sean (and Blue & Luci)

Mizuna Greens Salad with Pomegranate Seeds and Sliced Apple

1/2 bunch mizuna, cleaned and roughly chopped
1 pomegranate, halved and seeds taken out (or 1/2 cup store bought seeds)
1 apple, sliced into thin wedges

Mizuna Salad Dressing Recipe

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
salt and pepper, to taste

For the dressing, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, honey and salt & pepper. Set aside.

Place mizuna greens and apple slices in a large bowl. Cut pomegranate in half and hit the back side with a rolling pin (or other device) to release seeds, see photo above. Pour in dressing and toss well. Arrange salad on serving plates.

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe Source: www.wishfulchef.com

Garlicy Mizuna with Koh Reh Gu Su

1 bunch of Mizuna

1 garlic clove

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 lemon
Koh Reh Gu Su (we use garlic chili sauce or sriracha, substitute with your favorite hot sauce)
Sea salt & Pepper

1. Wash the mizuna. Fill a large bowl with water, and gently shake the mizuna in the bowl to release any dirt of grime. Dry thoroughly by patting with a paper towel. Cut into 4-inch pieces.
2. Mince up a garlic clove. Heat olive oil over medium in a large saute pan, and throw in garlic – cook until aromatic. Throw in mizuna and stir fry.

3. When the mizuna begins to wilt, sprinkle in a pinch of sea salt, grind some pepper, and splash a generous amount of koh reh guu su. Stir fry until mizuna wilts to half its original amount.
4. Plate, and squeeze some lemon juice.

Recipe Source: www.inomthings.com

Broccoli Raab, Garlic Scallions and Pasta

1 medium onion, diced

1 garlic scallion( green garlic), sliced diagonally (or garlic chives, optional)

4-6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bunch broccoli raab, heavy stems removed and chopped

Extra-virgin olive oil

Red pepper flakes, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 to 1/2 lb Galletti Pasta (or other shaped pasta)

Prepare vegetables

Cover bottom of a skillet with olive oil, saute onions until translucent.

Prepare pasta while cooking vegetables.

Add scallion, garlic, and red pepper, toss.

Add broccoli raab and wine. Saute until tender, stirring and tossing frequently.

Toss with cooked and drained pasta

Recipe Source: www.sometimesiveg.com