May 28th, 2010

NU-WAY FARM CSA
May 28th, 2010

This Week You'll Receive the Following

Rhubarb

Cilantro

Lettuce

Baby Turnips with Greens

Green Onions

Red Mustard

Radishes

There’s a lot happening out on the farm. David received 1500 strawberry plants yesterday, which he is transplanting into raised beds in one of his greenhouses. These are “day neutral” plants, which means they’ll keep bearing regardless of the length of the day (unlike ordinary strawberry plants which usually stop bearing fruit the moment the days begin to shorten). His theory: he hopes to be picking berries around the first week of July and he wants to keep them going all summer.

The warm weather has things really popping out in the fields. In the next week or so, we’ll begin seeing green cabbage, beets, carrots, zucchini, and snap peas. David is also putting in a couple THOUSAND heirloom tomato plants and hundreds of cucumber, pepper, and melon plants. And the sweet corn he planted is already poking its head up, which means there’s a good chance it will achieve the proverbial “knee high” by early July.

Last week, David seasoned the fields with fish emulsion and he’s also been busy spreading compost and a soil amendment (a mineral supplement containing both macro and micro-nutrients: soft rock phosphate, gypsum, boron, manganese, and zinc). These organic treatments help produce plants that are resilient to pests (without ever having to use a pesticide) and resistant to blight and other diseases.

A REMINDER: if you’re paying your subscription fee in three installments, you owe $167 by June 1st. Please make your checks out to David Yoder and feel free to drop them in the “Moo-La” jar in the garage at your earliest convenience.




Red Mustard Salad with Radishes, Apples, and Walnuts

2 cups red mustard, washed and spun dry

2 cups baby lettuce, washed and spun dry
1 gala apple, cut into thin wedges

6 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup whole walnuts, toasted

1 green onion, white and greens, thinly sliced

Dressing:
4 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. sugar
2 T. cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

1 tsp. each salt and pepper


Whisk the ingredients for the dressing together. Arrange the salad ingredients on a platter, then drizzle with the dressing and serve immediately.



Western Pennsylvania “Pho” with Baby Turnips, Cilantro and Scallions
“Pho” is really all about a good beef stock—but you can easily do this with chicken or vegetable stock as well. Consider making homemade stock—you’ll notice the difference.

1 package rice noodles

One small onion, thinly sliced
8 cups beef or chicken stock

4 Green onions, whites and greens, chopped
1-2 cups turnip greens with baby turnips

Two limes, cut into quarters
Two inch piece of ginger root, peeled and minced

Hoisin sauce
2 carrots and 1 stalk celery, julienned
“Siracha” chili/garlic sauce

Cilantro
1 tsp. coarse salt

½ tsp. sugar

Prepare the rice noodles according to package directions (typically they are soaked in water for about twenty minutes), then set aside, covered.

Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Separate the turnip greens from the baby turnips. Snip the little roots and stem ends from the baby turnips and set them aside. Cut out the thick center veins from the turnip greens, wash them well, then chop the greens coarsely. Boil the turnip greens in the salted water for about five minutes, then transfer them to a colander and allow them to drain.

For the soup: in a large kettle, heat one tablespoon vegetable oil over medium high heat, then add the sliced onion and minced ginger. Toss for about two minutes, until the onions and ginger begin to sweat, then add the celery, carrots and baby turnips along with one teaspoon coarse salt and ½ teaspoon sugar. Toss for one minute, then add the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for about five minutes, just until the vegetables begin to soften, then add the boiled turnip greens, one tablespoon of hoisin sauce, and 1 tsp. Siracha.

Warm the rice noodles (just douse them with some boiling water for a minute and then drain them again) and put some in the bottom of each serving bowl. Cover with the soup. Garnish each bowl with a small handful of cilantro, some green onions, and some squeezes of lime. Pass the bottle of Siracha if you like more heat.

Home-made Rhubarb & Orange “Pop Tarts”

Roll out your own pie dough if you are feeling ambitious—but the store-bought dough sold in rolls works just fine.

One roll refrigerated pie dough

4 cups rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces
Powdered sugar

2 tsp. orange zest
3/4 cup sugar

½ cup fresh orange juice

In a small saucepan, bring the rhubarb, sugar, orange zest and juice to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb has fallen apart much of the liquid has cooked off. Then allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the pie dough into eight identical rectangles (each about 4” x 6”). Place four of the rectangles down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and top with a generous spoonful of the rhubarb jam, being careful to keep it in the middle. Place another rectangle on top and use your fingers to seal the edges of each tart, trying not to trap large air pockets. Then use a fork to crimp all the edges together. Stab a few little holes into the top of each tart.

Bake until just beginning to turn golden—7-10minutes, keeping a close eye on them. Some rhubarb will likely ooze out—don’t worry. Allow to cool for five minutes, then dust them with a generous amount of powdered sugar and serve (warning: the contents will remain mouth-searingly hot for a long time!).