Chanterelles

There are many ways to cook chanterelles. Most of the flavorful compounds in chanterelles are fat soluble, making them good mushrooms to sauté in butter, oil or cream. They also contain smaller amounts of water- and alcohol-soluble flavorings, which lend the mushrooms well to recipes involving wine or other cooking alcohols. Many popular methods of cooking chanterelles include them in sautés, soufflés, cream sauces, and soups. They are not typically eaten raw, as their rich and complex flavor is best released when cooked

Chanterelle Risotto:     

This recipe is a deliciously delicate combination of wild mushrooms and comfort... sort of a refined version of mac and cheese.  If you have chanterelles put away, this will make a great wintry weather soul warmer when you need it the most.

Scrambled Eggs with Chanterelles:

This recipe is a great way to start the day.  Eggs and Chanterelles go very well together.

Caramelized Onion and Chanterelle Quiche:

This recipe is a lofty layering of savory peppery Comté cheese, caramelized onions, and buttery herby sauteed wild chanterelles. It's a heavenly melding that ensures all of the goodies are nicely distributed throughout the silky egg custard. This recipe does require some planning, as the quiche needs at least an hour to cool down once out of the oven. Although torturous to inhale the wondrous aromas while cooling on the kitchen counter, it's worth the wait and makes excellent leftovers.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are surprisingly delicate, we've discovered! Harold McGee in his book On Food and Cooking explains that refrigerating tomatoes damages the membranes inside the fruit walls, causing the tomato to lose flavor and develop the mealy texture we associate with mid-January grocery store tomatoes.

So the best place to store tomatoes is, indeed, on the counter top at room temperature. They actually continue to develop flavor until maturation peaks a few days after picking.

What to do with too many tomatoes?  If you find yourself with just too many gorgeous tomatoes, they can be frozen and accumulated for future sauce making or jamming.

Sautéed baby squash with basil and feta: 

This simple preparation yields delicious results in a versatile side dish. If baby pattypan squash are not available, substitute four cups of thinly sliced zucchini or yellow squash.

Cucumber salads

How do you feel about cucumbers?  I'm always kind of shocked when someone tells me they don't like them, but then I realize that maybe those cucumber-adverse people have only had grocery store cucumbers.  Those overly large waxy creatures are a poor substitute for garden cucumbers, which are loaded with a delicate flavor that I just love.

Cucumber mint spicy Thai salad:

This recipe from Kalyn' s kitchen blog contains a balance of spicy, sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory flavors. I love how the many flavors work together so well in this cucumber salad with a spicy Thai-inspired dressing, even if some of the ingredients are not authentically Thai. This light cucumber salad is a perfect side dish for grilled meat, seafood, or tofu, but I probably eat this most often as a quick main-dish salad for a very flavorful summer lunch.

Cucumber tomato Tabbouleh:

This salad recipe has many ingredients found in Tabbouleh, but the amount of tomato and cucumber and the addition of green onion gives this salad a slightly different attitude. This is a delightful way to use some tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, and parsley from the garden. I'm also thinking there are lots of interesting things that could be added to this.

Hungarian cucumber salad:

I haven't eaten that much authentic Hungarian food, but it's definitely on my list of places to visit, and I love the combination of sweet paprika and sour cream that's used in so many dishes in that part of the world.  Another recipe from Kalyn's kitchen blog

Peppers plus

This year there are 3 types of peppers in the veggie boxes: sweet Bell, mild Anaheim, and med Hungarian.  It's my first time with any success growing them and I will be adding more sweet types next year.  The Bell are short and squat. The Anaheim are long and green.  The Hungarian are slender and yellow/red.

Stuffed Anaheim Peppers:

This recipe is baked and the peppers are stuffed with cheese and bread crumbs. By removing the pith and seeds, you take out most of the heat as well.  Anaheim peppers are quite mild to begin with.

Grilled Bacon Pepper Wraps:

This recipe uses Jalapenos, but you can use the Hugarian peppers instead, which are very similar, although not as hot.  Tons of reviews from allrecipes.com - it is very highly rated as well.  The peppers are stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon, and then grilled.  Crispy on the outside and soft/cheesy goodness on the inside :))

Zucchini gratin:

Fresh basil and zucchini beckon, make a gratin.  This recipe is gluten free and uses vegan cheese, but could be sub'd for dairy cheese.

Zucchini Tomato Rice Gratin:

This recipe makes me very hungry just looking at it!  It also uses some eggs.

Zucchini Ratatouille

Great recipe which uses zucchini, pattypan, string beans, tomatoes, and green peppers.  I added in some extra large carrots that needed to be cooked.

This is from the green man blog at the Vancouver Sun - My ratatouille recipe does NOT include eggplant because my wife doesn’t like it and chances are good you aren’t growing it. You won’t miss it. This is my riff on the French classic, one that should dovetail very nicely with what your garden is giving you right now.

Aug 14th Prior St

Veggie Box contents:
- Eggs.  we ran out of eggs so I included some organic free range white ones in some boxes
- Kale mix
- String beans - if you cook the purple ones, they will turn green - very good raw too.
- Garlic and shallots
- Carrots - the yellow ones might be a bit tough, they have overgrown a bit - good for cooking.
- Zucchini
- Patty Pan squash - summer squash, similar uses to zucchini.  very nice for grilling
- Tomatillos - makes a wonderful roasted salsa verde
- Tomatoes - best not to refrigerate, or they can lose some flavour
- Herbs:  chives, dill, savory, basil

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Salsa verde is quick and easy with hardly any chopping required.  Slice, roast, cool, and purée.  Here's  the recipe.

Salsa Time

Plum Salsa:

This recipe is similar to the one my sister made for the workparty.  Very versatile, works alongside poultry, roast pork, fish, etc.  Even good with tortilla chips.  The lime juice melds all the flavours together.  I'm pretty sure my sister used a seeded jalapeño, and you could throw some seeds in to make it hotter.  I'm also thinking you could swap chives for the green onions.  

July 24th Dundas

Veggie Box contents:

- Eggs

- Spinach - going to seed, but will replant some for fall, arugula also

- Potatoes - Yukon gold and Russian blue.  roasting intensifies the blue while boiling will fade it.

- Chard - I have planted some yellow and pink chards for the fall.

- Snap peas - smooth shell.  sweet and you can eat the whole thing.

- Shelling peas - rough shell.  fibrous, so only eat the peas.

- Broad beans - do not eat the shells, very spongy.

- Collard greens

- Herb mix.  mild Greek oregano, chives, and basil.

- Beets.  golden beets are very juicy and sweet, great for shredding into salads.
              save the beet greens!  check out last entry for Vij's recipe for them.

Beets, beets, beets, beets, beets, beets... everybody

Beet Greens Sauteed in Ginger, Lemon and Cumin:

The beets are coming!  5 types, all with greens: Chioggia, Bull's Blood, Golden, Cylindrical, and Detroit Red.

Taken from Vij's At Home, Relax Honey by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala (page 62-63 if you've got the book).

Instead of the radish, I have used Swiss Chard stalks successfully.  

1 1/2 lbs beet greens (about 2 bunches) chopped in 1/4 inch pieces

1 lb daikon, red radishes, or turnips, peeled and thickly cut into "shoestrings" 2-3 inches long

2 T. finely chopped ginger

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

4 T. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt (Note: the original recipe calls for 1T. salt, but I find 1 1/2 tsp to be plenty. Add more to your own taste).

2 T. ground cumin

1 tsp ground cayenne pepper (optional)

1/3 cup cooking oil

Place greens and daikon (or radish or turnips) in a large bowl. Add ginger, lemon juice, sugar, salt, cumin and cayenne and mix well. Just before serving, heat oil in a wok or large frying pan on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Add vegetable mixture, including all the lemon juice at the bottom of the bowl. Heat greens, stirring regularly for 4-5 minutes. Serve immediately. (Serves 8).

Potato Salads

There are 4 different types of potatoes in the garden this year.  First up are the Yukon Golds, followed with the Russian Blues.  The Fingerlings are the smallest, but take the longest?  Here's an article on how to store potatoes - turns out I shouldn't have rinsed them shortly before bagging!  If they are still wet, let them dry off.

Kale & Potato Salad:

Collard Potato Salad:

Sesame Roasted Snap Peas:

Greens leftover? Make Soup!

In France this recipe for simple, nutritious soup is made with wild greens that you might forage on an afternoon’s walk, such as nettles, watercress and dandelion greens. If you must use one green, I recommend Swiss chard.  Can't argue with the NYTimes. 

What to do with garlic scapes?

Scapes are the shoots that grow out of the ground from hard-neck varieties of garlic. When they're young and tender, they look like curly green stalks with tightly closed buds on top.  But scapes offer more than a slightly rowdy alternative to garlic. Because of their substantial heft as opposed to garlic cloves, they are vegetable, aromatic, and even herb all in one. seriouseats blog has 7 ideas for what to do with them.

Nettle Fritters and Radish Salad

Nettle Fritters:

This recipe looks fun.  Instead of the wild garlic, you can use the baby garlic.







Chopped Salad with Radish and Beans:


This salad recipe can be slightly adjusted to use chopped snap peas and lima beans.  Very impressed with the organization of the website this is from too - easy to search.





Chocolate Strawberries:

Chocolate, strawberries, and some hot pepper?  Not the most conventional of toppings, but a nice one nonetheless. I love the contrast of the sweet-tart of the berries, the bittersweet of the chocolate and the ba-da-boom of the Sichuan. Just a little something different to keep everyone on their toes.

June 26th Dundas delivery

The flowers in the salad mix are Nasturtiums and taste peppery.

Broad beans are also known as Fava beans and need to be shelled.  Right now they are young and tender and can be eaten raw or lightly sautéed.  Both the snow peas and snap peas should be eaten with the shell.

 Here's a nice pasta recipe that uses thinly sliced snow peas and basil.  Fava beans would be a nice addition.

Here's a recipe for grilling greens - collards, chard, kale, etc!   the result is tasty, resourceful, and the perfect go-to accompaniment for a summers worth of grilled meats…oh, I imagine this would make a killer burger topping.

Here's another variation using aluminium foil so they get steamed a bit.

This one puts them right on the grill for a charred flavour.

Sauteed Kale with Anchovies is an interesting flavour combination that works well with stronger tasting greens like collards or kale.

June 19th Prior St Delivery

Finally some peas and beans.  Two types of peas - the larger flat Sweet Peas and the thicker Snap Peas. Both should be eaten with their shells.  The large pods are Broad Beans.  Not too many beans ready yet, but here's some info on grilling them when they are young and tender.  They are nice in soup or on pasta.  I have more than 100 plants, so there will be much more.

First of the strawberries was available this week - many more to come for the next few weeks.  There will be more rhubarb in the next box too - they go so well together.










The bunch of herbs is Greek Oregano, which is mild.  It can be dried by hanging it upside down and this will also intensify the flavour.


The bunch of curly leaves is Curly Kale.  I found a good article on the benefits of massaging Kale http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/18/how-to-massage-kale_n_1601200.html

Recipes for Greens

Sauteed Greens with Pine Nuts and Raisons:

This is a classic Sicilian side dish, prepared with leafy greens, toasted pine nuts and raisins.  It's sweet, savory, salty, spicy and just a little bitter. So as my mother would say, well balanced. We used dinosaur kale (aka Lacinato or Tuscan kale) but you could easily use collard greens, mustard or turnip greens, or spinach. Any leafy green will do.   sauteed greens with pine nuts and raisins

Kale Sausage with White Beans:

Of course, it's hard to go wrong when you mix kale with Italian sausage and white beans. But, baby steps people. Baby steps.
Kale with sausage and white beans

Nettle Pasta:

The pasta is a breeze.  Nettles are easier to deal with than you think. Here I quickly blanch them straight from the bag they came in, in the same water I cook the pasta. One pot, no stings. I add toasted almonds for crunch, feta because its tangy creaminess plays nice with the nettles, and onion sprouts. Bit of garlic.

nettle pasta recipe

Hollyhock Sesame Maple Dressing:
Another great salad dressing from the Hollyhock cookbook.

1/3 cup tamari/soya sauce ¼ cup water 
¼ cup maple syrup 
2 tsp Dijon mustard 
1 tsp minced garlic 
1/3 cup sunflower/safflower oil 
3 Tbsp sesame oil 


BLEND everything except oils. 
In a measuring cup, COMBINE oils. 
SLOWLY BLEND in oils to other ingredients. 
STOP BLENDING as soon as the oils have been added. 

Notes: 
Makes 1½ cups. Can be refrigerated for 1 week (in theory, but I’ve never had it around that long!) Try it over green salads, steamed vegetables, as a fish marinade, or just dip bread into it.

June 5 Prior St Delivery

Thanks to Alena for helping with the harvest - time left over to do some basil transplanting even.  The most perishable item is the cilantro and radish leaves, followed by the spinach and the salad mix.   The most robust are the nettle and collards.  For best storage, sprinkle the greens with water and place in a plastic bag.

The baby garlic is a hint of what's to come.  It's a single clove so handy for chopping.  And the leaves can be used like garlic chives.

Kale flower buds are quite sweet and can be cooked like rapini or broccoli.  Here is a good article on them with a nice pasta recipe for them at the bottom.  The stalks with the flowers are tougher than the younger ones without, so discard the bottom half.

Greens, Greens, Greens & Eggs

Sylvain reminded me of how good a frittata can be, and it uses a lot of eggs. This recipe is for a 12" pan, but can be scaled down.   also good for the oregano.

It's sort of like a quiche without the crust, or a big thick omelet.  

May 29th Dundas Delivery

Thanks to Kerry for helping again this week, we were able to put together a tasty salad mix.  The boxes are quite full this week thanks to the Swiss chard and all the radish - still making space in the green house for more peppers!  The order of perishability is as follows:


Use the mix salad, spinach, and radish leaves first.  These are very tender and will only last a couple days before getting wilted.  The radish root will keep longer but are also nice in the salad. 

Oregano and spearmint are perishable too, but are still flavorful if wilted. it's possible to chop them up and dry them for use in soups.   When using spearmint, bruising first helps release the aromatic oils.

The sorrel and swiss chard will keep a while, longer than regular lettuce.  The trick is putting them in a plastic bag while they are moist.  Works well with most leafy greens.

Nettles and kale are very robust and will last more than a week.

The mix salad contains:  loose leaf lettuce, beet tops, wild sorrel, mizuna mustard, edible chrysanthemum, baby chard, arugula, and bits of chickweed.

Green wraps with Collards

Collards are tough and don't easily break apart when cooked. Their flexibility makes them perfect for a wrap.  There are a lot of recipe ideas online such as red-pepper-hummus-collard-green-wraps

May 22nd Delivery to Prior St

Thanks to Kerry for helping this week, we were able to put together a tasty salad mix.  The boxes are quite full this week thanks to the giant collards and all the radish - had to make space in the green house for more peppers!  The order of perishability is as follows:


Use the mix salad, spinach, and radish leaves first.  These are very tender and will only last a couple days before getting wilted.  The radish root will keep longer but are also nice in the salad. 

Chives are perishable too, but are still flavorful if wilted. it's possible to chop them up and dry them for use in soups.  same with the lemon balm.

the giant red mustard and swiss chard will keep a while, longer than regular lettuce.  the trick is putting them in a plastic bag while they are moist.  works well with most leafy greens.

the nettles and collard greens are very robust and will last more than a week.

The mix salad contains:  loose leaf lettuce, beet tops, wild sorrel, mizuna mustard, edible chrysanthemum, baby chard, arugula, and bits of chickweed.  details of the chrysanthemum and collard greens are here.

The chickweed grows fast, is very nutritious, and has a slight nutty taste. 

 Mizuna has a mild mustard flavour. 

Found some wild sorrel in the garden, its a bad weed with long reaching roots.  However, it tastes great - very pronounced lemon flavour.  I will keep some of it around, maybe in a big pot to keep it from spreading too much.

Lemon Balm is a herb and makes lovely tea, hot or cold.  Studies have shown that the tea is good for alleviating anxiety.  Here is a recipe for lemon balm sorbet.  

Freshii Kale

New fast food place featuring Kale of all things.  http://www.freshii.com/menu/limited

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY PROPERTIES, MORE IRON THAN BEEF, MORE CALCIUM THAN MILK, CONTAINS FIBER, CONTAINS OMEGA FATTY ACIDS, BOOSTS IMMUNITY, RICH WITH VITAMIN A & C.


Their Kale Effect Bowl looks like a good way to use vegis.   It reminds me of the dragon bowl at Naam.  I will try this out with some Miso dressing tonight.  probably sauté some of the collard greens too.

Hollyhock Yeast Dressing

Yeast Dressing (from Hollyhock Cooks).  Kerry likes to add a bit of maple syrup to balance the bitter/tart flavors of some of the salad greens.  This will keep in your fridge for 2 weeks.

Into the jar of a blender add:
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (not brewer's yeast, which is bitter and awful - look for yellow yeast flakes)
1/6 cup water
1/6 cup tamari (soy sauce)
1/6 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoons garlic

With the blender running, remove the lid and slowly add (in a thin, steady stream):
3/4 cups canola oil or other light vegetable oil (don't use extra virgin olive oil as the flavor is too strong)

May 15th Delivery

BIG thanks to Alena for coming to the farm to help with harvesting.  Still working on efficiencies and happy for no rain.  There were all the same items as the First Delivery plus collard greens and the salad mix.  

Collard Greens are robust like kale and very high in potassium.  they are widely used in Southern style cooking.  they are related to cabbage and can be cooked in the same ways.

The salad mix had a bunch of different things.  This is the most perishable item by far, it should be consumed within a few days as the spinach is very tender.  There were also purple beet tops, sunflower sprouts, spiky mizuna mustard, a bit of red mustard, and some edible chrysanthemum pictured to the right.  

Squash transplanting workparty & dinner Sun, June 3, 1PM

The tomato party was a huge success.  Many thanks to Fabrice and Keith for the spot prawns and homemade mayonnaise dip!  the tomatoes are all doing well so you should expect to see some smaller cherry types in July even.

Next project is getting the squash in the ground.  I have started a bunch of summer squash - green, yellow, and striped zukes as well as various winter squash - butternut, kabucha, sweet meat, acorn, banana, and pumpkin.  they will soon be ready for transplanting.

Sun, June 3, 1PM will be the next farm event.  come check out the tomatoes, transplant some squash, and stay for a nice dinner.  This will be a family friendly event, all ages are welcome.  I will also be clearing out the greenhouse of any extra transplants I have - kholrabi, rapini, collard greens, tomatoes, tomatillos, squash, etc.  bring containers if you are interested.

email me if you are interested so I know how many to expect for dinner

Recipes for May

Sorrel & Nettle tart / quiche: 

http://growfoodslowfood.blogspot.ca/2012/01/recipe-sorrel-tart.html.  I added the nettles for their nice deep color when cooked, the sorrel yellows quite a bit. don't need a lot, maybe 1/4 nettles and 3/4 sorrel.  good use for eggs too.  if you dont like making pastry dough, frozen pie shells work too.  

Nettle Goma-ae: 
 if you like the spinach type, this one is a nice variation:  http://meelsmeals.blogspot.ca/2009/05/nettle-goma-ae-and-other-important.html

Nettle Pesto:  

handy sauce to have around for pasta, eggs, salads, etc.  http://honest-food.net/veggie-recipes/greens-and-herbs/nettle-pesto/.  I usually sub walnuts or sunflower seeds for the pine nuts 

Lovage Soup:  

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1748,154163-235205,00.html

Rhubarb Bars:  

http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/bar. also easy to freeze rhubarb and save until strawberries are here for jam/pies.

  

Raw Kale Salad:  

http://www.janespice.com/recipes/esalen-kale-salad.  I usually massage the kale with the lemon juice first then add the rest.  can also add the red mustard greens for a bit more bite