CSA Week 17: Please return your bags!

** 2 weeks to go!  Final main season pickup is October 16 to 20 **

In Your Share:

Carnival Squash
Potatoes
Onion
Broccoli or Cauliflower
Pepper or Tomato
Salad Mix

Full Shares Only:

Lettuce
Kale
Parsley

Before talking about what’s in your share, I want to request that you look around your house and car and return any CSA bags you have.  We are getting low at the farm and almost didn’t have enough to fill shares last week.  I should have plenty of extra, so lots of them are with you.  Please bring them back to your usual drop site or leave them in the farm stand any time.

Today’s is a lovely fall share with the first of our winter squash.  These are fresh out of the field and will get sweeter if you leave them on the counter for a week or two.  Carnival is similar to an acorn squash and is great for stuffing or eating by itself.  I most often roast squash by cutting them in half, putting them face down in a pan with a little water, and roasting at 375 until a fork goes through them easily.  I find it easier to leave the seeds in and scoop them out after cooking, but if you are planning to stuff them or want to add butter or spices to the hole, you should scoop them out beforehand.  When squash are fresh like this, I think the skin is tender and tasty.  Once they’ve stored for a while, it gets tough and I peel it off after cooking.  Squash store well at room temperature; put them on the counter, in a cabinet, or make them a table centerpiece.  They will keep for several months.

We will have more squash and some of our delicious heirloom pumpkins for you before the season is out.  Squash are not usually our best crop, since they want more heat than we can provide, but this year’s are beautiful.  We are limited in the kinds we can grow, but I’ve been experimenting with some different varieties in the last couple of years and many of you will be seeing delicatas and maybe even butternuts in the weeks to come.  Carnival, however, continues to be our most reliable producer, and it is a beauty.  Enjoy!

We have broccoli or cauliflower for everyone this week.  I mentioned last week that we started a boron spray on the cauliflower because they were all rotting, and it seems to be helping.  These cauliflowers are small and not our prettiest, but they are fresh and tasty and a whole lot nicer than what we were getting a couple weeks ago.  We’re starting into our last rotation of broccoli, which includes a new open pollinated heading variety that I think you’ll like.  These are a more moderate size than the heads you got earlier in the summer, but they are more similar to commercial broccoli than my personal favorite non-heading type.  Let me know what you think!

The rain seems to be coming on harder and harder, and we’ll see how it affects our fall harvests.  The broccoli and cauliflower are susceptible to crown rot if they stay too wet, and our salad and greens often deteriorate in constant cold rain.  The summer crops are pretty much all calling it quits at once: say goodbye to cukes, zukes, basil, and maybe tomatoes.  But colder temperatures also bring out more flavor in all the fall crops, and fall greens and roots are the most tender and tasty.  We will even have a couple new treats for you before the season is out, yacon is coming soon!

Carnival Squash Stuffed with Ground Turkey

Carnival, the variety of winter squash we are growing this year, is an excellent stuffer. The size is perfect, and the beautiful skin makes for a nice presentation on the plate. I found this recipe on foodmayhem.com.   It calls for poached shredded chicken thighs, but I am substituting ground turkey to save a step. Serves 4 to 6.

Preheat oven to 375. Cut 2 carnival squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place face down on a baking sheet and add ¼ inch of water. Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven and flip over. In each cavity, place 1 Tbsp butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Return to the oven and bake another 15 minutes, or until a fork inserts easily.

Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a sauté pan. Add:

2 c red onion, chopped

            4 cloves garlic, minced

Saute 5 minutes until the onions begin to soften, then add:

2 tsp chili powder

            1 tsp cumin

            1 lb ground turkey

            salt and pepper to taste

Saute about 10 minutes, or until turkey is no longer pink.

Place each squash half on a plate, fill with the turkey mixture and serve.

Red Russian Kale Rolls

Chef KJ Konink made these one year for our Farm to Fork dinner with an excellent local goat feta. This is a simple kale and feta filling, but you can switch it up to include other items (try ground lamb, grated carrots and radish, cauliflower and basil, or whatever you can think of!

1 bunch kale

8 oz feta cheese

2 Tbsp minced shallots

2 Tbsp butter

Salt

Blanch the kale by holding the stems and dipping into a pot of salted boiling water, then plunging into ice water. After it cools, cut out the stems and trim the leaves into 4 x 6” pieces.

Finely chop the leftover pieces of stem and leaves and sauté in the butter along with the shallots.

On each leaf, place a slice of feta cheese and a dollop of the sautéed mixture. Roll up tightly like a dolma and serve.