Siren Song Farm Newsletter
Volume 4
Hello wonderful CSAers!
I am finally home from Corvallis and very happy to be back on the farm. People have been asking for a little info about what I was up to, so I thought I would take a minute to fill you all in! For the bulk of the week I was at a Permaculture Farming for Energy Descent class hosted by OSU. It was very inspiring. We learning about the importance of hedgerows (they are more exciting than you would think!), all about growing bamboo and its many uses and some large scale permaculture designs for water catchment and distribution. On Monday Aby and I went to Corvallis again to take a seed production class from the legendary Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seed. It too was fantastic. Next season we will be branching out into some small scale seed production. We would really like to start developing seed that works really well when our summers stay wet and cloudy. Locally adapted seed is invaluable.
This week your bag contains zucchini, yellow onions, spinach, mixed baby radishes, kale and romaine lettuce. We had a special request for kale this week and I can’t tell you how excited we are that you are enjoying some of the more unusual veggies. We don’t usually grow head lettuce, because of the bug problems, but we were so inspired while we were at Wild Garden Seed which specializes in lettuce that we brought some back with us for you all to try!
Here are some fun recipes to try with this week’s spoils.
Cheers-
Jen
Cucumber Salad
Forget fuss—the key to this recipe is leaving everything alone. Tossing cucumbers with salt and then letting them drain prevents their moisture from diluting the flavors of the finished dish. A long, unattended marination enhances the sweet-sour blend of sugar and white vinegar that makes this salad especially refreshing.
Yield: Makes 8 servings
ingredients
2 cucumbers
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons grainy mustard
lettuce leaves
2 tablespoons mild extra-virgin olive oil
Cut cucumbers into thin (1/16-inch) rounds with slicer. Toss with 2 teaspoons salt in a colander, then drain 30 minutes. Squeeze excess liquid from cucumbers.
Whisk together sugar, vinegar, and mustard in a large bowl, then stir in cucumbers. Marinate, chilled, at least 2 hours.
Drain cucumbers, reserving marinade, and mound on lettuce. Whisk oil into reserved marinade and drizzle over salad.
Cooks’ note:
Cucumbers can be marinated, chilled, up to 1 day.
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Grilled Chicken Salad with Radishes, Cucumbers, and Tarragon Pesto
¼ cup (packed) fresh tarragon leaves plus 2 teaspoons chopped
¼ cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves
4 tablespoons pine nuts, divided
5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided
2 teaspoons chopped shallot or onion
6 tablespoons (or more) olive oil, divided, plus additional for brushing
4 boneless chicken breast halves
4 ½ -inch-thick slices country-style French or sourdough bread
Salad greens
1 cup thinly sliced radishes (from 1 large bunch)
1 cup thinly sliced cucumbers (about 1 1/2)
Place 1/4 cup tarragon leaves, parsley, 2 tablespoons pine nuts, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and shallot in mini processor; chop coarsely. With machine running, gradually add 3 tablespoons olive oil. Season pesto to taste with salt and pepper. Add more olive oil by teaspoonfuls to thin, if necessary.
Whisk 2 teaspoons chopped tarragon, remaining 4 teaspoons lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons oil in small bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper.
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush chicken breasts on both sides with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until grill marks form, skin is crisp, and chicken is cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes per side. Transfer to work surface; let rest 5 minutes. Using clean brush, brush both sides of bread with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until dark-brown grill marks appear on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Place greens, radishes, and cucumbers in large bowl. Toss with dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide salad among 4 plates.
Cut grilled chicken breasts crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Arrange 1 sliced chicken breast atop salad on each plate. Spoon tarragon pesto over chicken. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons pine nuts over salads. Serve with grilled bread slices.
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Wilted Spinach with Nutmeg Butter
Creamed spinach often gets a dash of nutmeg. With the rest of this meal, you'll be happy to have a lighter (meaning creamless), more basic sautéed spinach, but the nutmeg remains, for a sense of something special.
1 pound flat-leaf spinach
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
dash of grated nutmeg
dash of salt and pepper
Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a wide large pot over high heat, then cook spinach, tossing with tongs, until completely wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, pressing with back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.
Heat butter in same pot over medium heat until foam subsides, then stir in nutmeg, salt, pepper, and spinach. Cook, tossing with tongs, until just heated through.
Cooks' note:
Spinach can be washed and dried 1 day ahead and chilled, wrapped in paper towels, in a sealed bag.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Smoked Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup
A soup this hearty calls for wedges of crusty country bread alongside. For the salad, arrange sliced pickled beets on romaine leaves and sprinkle generously with fresh dill. Apple strudel is just right to finish up.
Yield: 2 Servings; Can Be Doubled
4 ounces smoked fully cooked sausage (such as kielbasa or hot links), sliced into rounds
2 3/4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
3/4 pound small red-skinned potatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
5 cups thinly sliced trimmed kale leaves (about 3/4 of medium bunch) chopped kale, thawed, drained
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, lightly crushed
Sauté sausage slices in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, sliced potatoes and white wine and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
Add kale and caraway seeds to soup. Simmer soup uncovered until potatoes and kale are very tender, about 10 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve immediately.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Kale Salad
Rinse kale. Tear leaves into bite size pieces, discarding any tough ribs and veins.
In a 5 to 6 quart pan over high heat, bring about 1 quart water to boil. Add kale, cover, and cook until slightly wilted-3-5 minutes. Drain.
When cool, squeeze excess liquid from kale and place in a bowl. Mix with 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve at room temperature
Volume 4
Hello wonderful CSAers!
I am finally home from Corvallis and very happy to be back on the farm. People have been asking for a little info about what I was up to, so I thought I would take a minute to fill you all in! For the bulk of the week I was at a Permaculture Farming for Energy Descent class hosted by OSU. It was very inspiring. We learning about the importance of hedgerows (they are more exciting than you would think!), all about growing bamboo and its many uses and some large scale permaculture designs for water catchment and distribution. On Monday Aby and I went to Corvallis again to take a seed production class from the legendary Frank Morton of Wild Garden Seed. It too was fantastic. Next season we will be branching out into some small scale seed production. We would really like to start developing seed that works really well when our summers stay wet and cloudy. Locally adapted seed is invaluable.
This week your bag contains zucchini, yellow onions, spinach, mixed baby radishes, kale and romaine lettuce. We had a special request for kale this week and I can’t tell you how excited we are that you are enjoying some of the more unusual veggies. We don’t usually grow head lettuce, because of the bug problems, but we were so inspired while we were at Wild Garden Seed which specializes in lettuce that we brought some back with us for you all to try!
Here are some fun recipes to try with this week’s spoils.
Cheers-
Jen
Cucumber Salad
Forget fuss—the key to this recipe is leaving everything alone. Tossing cucumbers with salt and then letting them drain prevents their moisture from diluting the flavors of the finished dish. A long, unattended marination enhances the sweet-sour blend of sugar and white vinegar that makes this salad especially refreshing.
Yield: Makes 8 servings
ingredients
2 cucumbers
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons grainy mustard
lettuce leaves
2 tablespoons mild extra-virgin olive oil
Cut cucumbers into thin (1/16-inch) rounds with slicer. Toss with 2 teaspoons salt in a colander, then drain 30 minutes. Squeeze excess liquid from cucumbers.
Whisk together sugar, vinegar, and mustard in a large bowl, then stir in cucumbers. Marinate, chilled, at least 2 hours.
Drain cucumbers, reserving marinade, and mound on lettuce. Whisk oil into reserved marinade and drizzle over salad.
Cooks’ note:
Cucumbers can be marinated, chilled, up to 1 day.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Grilled Chicken Salad with Radishes, Cucumbers, and Tarragon Pesto
¼ cup (packed) fresh tarragon leaves plus 2 teaspoons chopped
¼ cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley leaves
4 tablespoons pine nuts, divided
5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided
2 teaspoons chopped shallot or onion
6 tablespoons (or more) olive oil, divided, plus additional for brushing
4 boneless chicken breast halves
4 ½ -inch-thick slices country-style French or sourdough bread
Salad greens
1 cup thinly sliced radishes (from 1 large bunch)
1 cup thinly sliced cucumbers (about 1 1/2)
Place 1/4 cup tarragon leaves, parsley, 2 tablespoons pine nuts, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and shallot in mini processor; chop coarsely. With machine running, gradually add 3 tablespoons olive oil. Season pesto to taste with salt and pepper. Add more olive oil by teaspoonfuls to thin, if necessary.
Whisk 2 teaspoons chopped tarragon, remaining 4 teaspoons lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons oil in small bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper.
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush chicken breasts on both sides with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until grill marks form, skin is crisp, and chicken is cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes per side. Transfer to work surface; let rest 5 minutes. Using clean brush, brush both sides of bread with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until dark-brown grill marks appear on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Place greens, radishes, and cucumbers in large bowl. Toss with dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide salad among 4 plates.
Cut grilled chicken breasts crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Arrange 1 sliced chicken breast atop salad on each plate. Spoon tarragon pesto over chicken. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons pine nuts over salads. Serve with grilled bread slices.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wilted Spinach with Nutmeg Butter
Creamed spinach often gets a dash of nutmeg. With the rest of this meal, you'll be happy to have a lighter (meaning creamless), more basic sautéed spinach, but the nutmeg remains, for a sense of something special.
1 pound flat-leaf spinach
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
dash of grated nutmeg
dash of salt and pepper
Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a wide large pot over high heat, then cook spinach, tossing with tongs, until completely wilted, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, pressing with back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.
Heat butter in same pot over medium heat until foam subsides, then stir in nutmeg, salt, pepper, and spinach. Cook, tossing with tongs, until just heated through.
Cooks' note:
Spinach can be washed and dried 1 day ahead and chilled, wrapped in paper towels, in a sealed bag.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Smoked Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup
A soup this hearty calls for wedges of crusty country bread alongside. For the salad, arrange sliced pickled beets on romaine leaves and sprinkle generously with fresh dill. Apple strudel is just right to finish up.
Yield: 2 Servings; Can Be Doubled
4 ounces smoked fully cooked sausage (such as kielbasa or hot links), sliced into rounds
2 3/4 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
3/4 pound small red-skinned potatoes, thinly sliced
1 cup dry white wine
5 cups thinly sliced trimmed kale leaves (about 3/4 of medium bunch) chopped kale, thawed, drained
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, lightly crushed
Sauté sausage slices in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, sliced potatoes and white wine and bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
Add kale and caraway seeds to soup. Simmer soup uncovered until potatoes and kale are very tender, about 10 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and serve immediately.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Kale Salad
Rinse kale. Tear leaves into bite size pieces, discarding any tough ribs and veins.
In a 5 to 6 quart pan over high heat, bring about 1 quart water to boil. Add kale, cover, and cook until slightly wilted-3-5 minutes. Drain.
When cool, squeeze excess liquid from kale and place in a bowl. Mix with 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, then sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve at room temperature