Siren Song Farm Newsletter

Volume 20

Hello wonderful CSAers!

            Can anyone believe that this is the last week of the CSA? Twenty weeks went by so fast! Anyway, this week we have Cinderella Sugar Pumpkins, Bartlett Pears, Nantes Carrots, Arcadia Broccoli, Italian Red Onions and Paprika Peppers. This is the last of the produce for the season so it’s good timing. All that’s left out there is some kale and sad looking sunchokes.

               We are so grateful for the opportunity to meet you all and be a small part of your lives. We are passionate about growing good, healthy food and we appreciate you coming along on the journey. Soon we will be transitioning into custom growing for high end markets but we will still be available to you as partners in the local food movement. Next we will be focusing on classes that teach people how to grow some of their own food, cook it, preserve it, get creative with it. We will also be teaching classes on growing and using herbs, edible landscaping, permaculture, garden art, studio art, soap making, cheese making, urban livestock care and anything else we find inspiring enough to teach. We will also be launching several kids programs dealing with these same ideas. In our search for a new home we came upon some of the most wonderful people we have ever met and we are thrilled to continue our vision for sustainability with them. We hope you will join us for some garden dinners, wine tastings and garden tours in the coming seasons. We wish you prosperity and abundance and thank you again for adding a level of richness and happiness to our lives this season.

Much love-

Jen and Aby
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Ginger Pear Sauce

Ingredients

• 6 firm pears, peeled
• 1/2 cup grated fresh ginger
• 2/3 cup sugar

Preparation

Combine the pears, ginger and sugar in a large pot over low heat, stirring frequently until the sugar melts and the pear juices begin to accumulate. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until pears are soft, about 45 minutes. Pass the pear mixture through a food mill and place in a clean saucepan. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until reduced, about 1 hour. Refrigerate in an airtight container.
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Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

Served with Warm turkey and munsted cheese  sandwich

2 cans black beans- drained and rinsed
2 cups  (1 can) diced tomatoes
2 cups  pumpkin puree
1 cup red onion chopped
2+ cloves garlic- minced
4tbl olive oil
4 cups veggie or chicken broth
1 tbl cumin
1 tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
½ tsp ground pepper
3 tbl balsamic vinegar
Baked pumpkin seeds for garnish

·         Place oil, onion, garlic and seasonings into a large pot

·         Cook on low-medium heat until brown

·         Puree the beans, tomato and 2 cups stock

·         Add puree, pumpkin and the rest of the stock to the pot

·         Simmer uncovered until thick, about 40-45 minutes

·         Before serving, stir in balsamic vinegar

·         Garnish with baked pumpkin seeds
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Marjoram-Infused Winter Squash Bisque

Most any winter squash can be used, including pumpkin, butternut, buttercup, banana, hubbard or sweet meat. And if you’re in a pinch for time, you can substitute with two 12-ounce packages of frozen cooked squash.

• One 3½- to 4-pound winter squash

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped

• 3 cups chicken broth

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram

• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper

• Salt (optional)

• 1/2 cup half-and-half

• Toasted pumpkin seeds*, fresh marjoram sprigs and freshly ground pepper, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half; remove seeds. Place squash cut side down on a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes or until squash pulp is tender. Remove from oven. Cool 20 minutes. Scoop out squash pulp, discarding shells. Measure 2 3/4 cups squash pulp; set aside.

2. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and apple; sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Add broth, honey, marjoram and white pepper; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Stir in squash pulp.

3. Process squash mixture in batches in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. (An immersion blender may be used for this step.) Return mixture to Dutch oven. Add salt, if desired. Whisk in half-and-half and cook over medium-low heat, 3 to 4 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Garnish with pumpkin seeds, marjoram and freshly ground pepper.

* Note: To toast pumpkin seeds, place a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot; add raw pumpkin seeds and cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat for 3 to 5 minutes or until seeds are toasted. Toasted pumpkin seeds, called pepitas, are available in many supermarkets.
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Broccoli Sautéed in Wine and Garlic  

by Mario Batali

Cooking cruciferous vegetables without boiling them, as in this recipe, seems to make them more fragrant and heady—just the way the robust Romans like their food.

Yield: Makes 6 servings

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 pounds broccoli, cut into spears
1 cup Frascati or other dry white wine
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange

1. In a 10- to 12-inch sauté pan, heat the olive oil with the garlic over medium-high heat until just sizzling. Add the broccoli and cook, tossing frequently and gradually adding the wine to keep the garlic from browning until the stalks are tender 8 to 10 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and zests, and tossing well, serve immediately.

Siren Song Farm Newsletter

Volume 19

Hello wonderful CSAers!


      I can’t believe that next week is the last week of the CSA! This week we have red bell peppers, Cinderella pumpkins for baking, sweet corn, yellow onions, St. Valery carrots and pears. I made a pie this weekend with some of the pears. It would have been delicious if I had managed not to burn the crust.  This week’s carrots are a different variety from last weeks. These are heirloom St. Valery carrots. I am on the fence about these carrots- on the one hand I think they taste better than the stockier nantes carrots but on the other hand they are rather ugly. I guess it’s nice to try both.

 I am really, really excited that the pumpkins are ready. These are baking pumpkins and they have a great sugary flavor.  To bake pumpkins simply cut them in half and scoop out all of the seeds. Then cut each side in half again so the pumpkin is in fourths. Rub olive oil on the pumpkin wedges both front and back. Put on a baking sheet with a thin layer of water. Bake the pumpkins at 450’ until a fork pokes into them easily. This can be anywhere from about 15- 45 minutes depending on the size of the pumpkin. Once they are done take them out of the oven and peel off the skin. If you are eating the pumpkin as is I would suggest baking the pumpkin with some butter and brown sugar sprinkled on it. If you are baking pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie or making soup I would mash up the pumpkin with a fork or put in a food processor.

The seeds can be cleaned and baked in the oven on a cookie sheet with some olive oil and salt for a nutritious snack. Pumpkin seeds are especially good for prostate health.


Cheers-

Jen

Grilled Polenta with Corn and Parmesan

6 servings

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 3 cups water, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cornmeal
• Additional olive oil
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add corn; sauté until heated through, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Bring 2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt to boil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk cornmeal and 1 cup water in medium bowl to blend. Whisk cornmeal-water mixture into boiling water; return to boil. Cook until polenta is smooth and thick, stirring often, about 30 minutes. Stir in corn mixture.
• Brush 11x7x2-inch dish with oil. Spread polenta in dish. Cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.
• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush grill with oil. Cut polenta into 12 squares. Brush both sides with oil. Place on grill; cover grill. Grill until polenta is golden brown, about 3 minutes per side, sprinkling with cheese during last minute. Serve hot.

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Carrot Cake With Walnuts

Ingredients for cake:

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice (or a combination of any of the following: powdered nutmeg, clove, and ginger)

¼ teaspoon of salt

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs beaten

2 cups grated carrots

Ingredients for icing:

8 ounces softened cream cheese

½ cup sifted confectioners' sugar

2 sticks softened unsalted butter

2 tsp whole cardamom pods

1 tsp dried lemongrass (or try ground ginger or, of course, vanilla extract)

Finishing touch:

½ cup finely chopped walnuts plus optional walnut halves or marzipan carrots.

TO MAKE THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 375F. Cover 2 round cake pans with a thin layer of butter and then dust with flour and shake out the excess. The pans should be 8 inches and 6 inches in diameter, respectively. Line the bottom of each with parchment paper.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, oil, and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in the grated carrots. Add the sifted dry ingredients from the medium sized bowl and stir to just barely mix. Overmixing might make the cake tough.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pans and place them in the oven. Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 350F. Bake for 30 minutes or until cakes are done in the center. This time it took me 40 minutes, so keep checking. (Place a toothpick into the center of the cake, pull it out and if it is clean, no bits of cake clinging to it, the cake is done.) Let cakes cool on wire racks before removing them from the pans.

TO MAKE THE ICING: Crush the cardamom pods and extract the seeds. Grind them to a fine powder along with the lemongrass in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Ideally, combine all icing ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at a low speed for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat at high speed for 5 minutes more

Spread the icing smoothly over the top and sides of each layer cake. There is enough icing to coat the cakes with 2 layer s of icing. Do the first, called a “crumb layer” due to all the stray crumbs that can still be visible in it, then place cakes in the fridge or freezer for a couple of minutes until icing is hard. Then proceed with the second layer. This will look smoother and more attractive. Press the chopped nuts into the sides. Stack the layers. You may want to decorate the top with, say, marzipan carrots or walnut halves.
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Pear and Blue Cheese Flatbread

The classic combination of pears, walnuts and blue cheese isn't just for salad. Toss the same ingredients onto purchased whole-wheat pizza dough and make your own gourmet flatbread at home.

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups thinly sliced onions
20 ounces prepared whole-wheat pizza dough
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
Freshly ground pepper , to taste
2 ripe but firm pears , sliced
1/2 cup finely crumbled blue cheese

Instructions

1. Place oven rack in the lowest position; preheat to 450°F. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown, about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft and golden, 5 to 8 minutes more.

3. Meanwhile, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to the size of the baking sheet. Transfer to the baking sheet. Bake until puffed and lightly crisped on the bottom, 8 to 10 minutes. Toast walnuts in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring, until lightly browned and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Stir vinegar, sage and pepper into the onions. Spread on the crust and top with pears, walnuts and cheese. Bake on the bottom rack until the crust is crispy and golden and the cheese is melted, 11 to 13 minutes. Slice and serve.
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Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

3/4 cup crushed vanilla wafers (or graham crackers)

3 tablespoons melted butter 

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

Filling:

4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

5 eggs

1/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

16 ounce pumpkin

2 tablespoons light rum

To make the crust, combine the vanilla wafer crumbs with the melted butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. 

Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan, and line the bottom with the crumb mixture. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.

Slowly beat in the sugar.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Gradually beat in the flour, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin, and rum.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, or until the filling is set.

Let the cake cool on a ware rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate several hours before serving. The cake may also be frozen.

Just before serving, remove the sides of the springform pan. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
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Pumpkin Pancakes

Everyone loves pancakes - especially when the weather gets cooler again in the fall. Made with pumpkin and cinnamon, these tasty pancakes are sure to please.

makes: 12-4 inch Pancakes

Ingredients

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup milk
1 cup pumpkin puree

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, adding yogurt, milk and pumpkin puree. Mix well. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Spoon the batter onto a preheated, oiled griddle, using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes slowly over a low-medium heat for approximately 4-6 minutes, flipping after 3 minutes.

Siren Song Farm Newsletter

Volume 18

Hello wonderful CSAers!


      This week we have heirloom tomatoes, curly leaf kale, red bell peppers, nantes carrots, red potatoes, yellow onions, white peppers, jalapeno peppers and sunchokes.

    Just a couple of thoughts on the sunchokes, also called Jerusalem artichokes,

- they do not need to be peeled- just washed

-they will do best in the fridge

-they can be used in any way you can use a potato but I think they are best simply grated on a salad

-they are fantastically good for you so give them a try!

  Thank you for all of your warm e-mail and recipes this week. It was wonderful and unexpected to hear from you. It keeps us going so keep it up! Also, I was thinking that the wintesquash would start going out in this week’s bag but I was out there looking at them and they could do with a few more days. These cold nights should be making them sweeter so I decided to hold off for a week.


Cheers-

Jen

Thank you Una for sharing this fun recipe from Bobby Flay!

Easy tomato chutney

Makes 1 large jar

This simple chutney is a great way of preserving summer's tomato glut and is perfect on toast with a chunk of cheddar.

1. Put everything in a pan, season to taste and stir well to combine. Simmer for 30–40 mins or until jammy. Pour into a sterilized jar and leave to cool before transferring to the fridge. The chutney will keep in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.

 ingredients

• 250g red onions, finely sliced
• 500g mixed tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded, sliced
• 75ml red wine vinegar
• 140g brown sugar
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Kale and White Bean Soup

2 Cups White Beans

4-5 Carrots, Peeled and Chopped

4-5 Celery Stalks, Chopped

1 Onion, Chopped

5 Cloves Garlic, Chopped

3 Tablespoons Butter

1 Bay Leaf

2 Quarts Chicken Stock

1 Bunch Kale

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Drain the beans and add all ingredients to your slow cooker except the

kale which you’ll add at the last minute.   Cook on low all day long.

Return home from a hard day at work, add the kale to the pot and prepare

a simple salad as an accompaniment to the meal.   Serve when the kale is

cooked, but still bright green.

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Chunky Sunchoke and Potato Mash

Jerusalem artichokes (also known as sunchokes) are neither artichokes nor from Jerusalem, but rather the tuber of a variety of sunflower native to America. The

knobby, gnarly vegetable is often overlooked, but its sweet, nutty flavor makes

it worth seeking out. Makes 6 servings

handful  Sunchokes, unpeeled, scrubbed, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces

1 pound potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt

3 tablespoons butter

Combine Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes in large pot. Pour enough cold

water over to cover; add 1 tablespoon coarse salt. Bring to boil; reduce heat

and boil gently until all vegetables are tender when pierced with knife,

about 18 minutes. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Return vegetables to pot.

Mash vegetables, adding reserved cooking liquid by 1/2 cupfuls to moisten until

chunky mixture forms. Stir in butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer to bowl and serve.
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Stuffed Red Bell Peppers  

Mashed potatoes would be a perfect side dish.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

4 red bell peppers
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup cooked white rice, cooled
1 tablespoon paprika
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 1/2 cups canned tomato sauce
1 1/4 pounds lean ground beef
1 large egg

Cut off top 1/2 inch of peppers and reserve. Scoop seeds from cavities. Discard stems and chop pepper tops. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, parsley, garlic, and chopped pepper pieces. Sauté until onions soften, about 8 minutes. Transfer to large bowl. Mix in rice, paprika, salt, pepper, and allspice. Cool 10 minutes. Mix in 1/2 cup tomato sauce, then beef and egg.

Fill pepper cavities with beef mixture. Stand filled peppers in single layer in heavy large pot. Pour remaining 2 cups tomato sauce around peppers. Bring sauce to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover pot and simmer 20 minutes. Spoon some sauce over each pepper. Cover; cook until peppers are tender and filling is cooked through and firm, about 20 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover and chill. Rewarm covered over low heat.)