Week Two: Purple and Green

Hey there CSA folks! We are now 35 shares and growing. Lucky for 8^th Street the greens love the rain. We have a handful of bread shares and 10 folks signed up for cheese! If any Okanogan Valley shareholders are curious about Back Country Coffee they can now buy some at Main Street Market in Omak or sample it while at One Drop Coffee Shop in Tonasket. It's Caleb's and my favorite local coffee and it's 100% organic and fair trade, such a pleasant bonus! Nothing like fresh (weekly) roasted coffee brewed in your morning-time kitchen (or rainy afternoon office).

Yes, new this year, Shannon (me) has finally allowed 8^th Street Greens to fly into the interwebs of the internet... we'll try to stay rooted though. I've been wanting to share pictures with CSA members for several years now. Thanks to Phoebe Webb, film school graduate, we now have a semi-professional blog site featuring the farm all-stars (people and crops), additional recipes and the weekly newsletters. So, shareholders and acquaintances alike can subscribe and get an email when the updates happen or just search it here-n-there. Our blog site can be part of the education that our Okanogan County community needs. It seems that some of us small-scale farmers are accidentally competing for the same customer base, but if the thousands of Okanogan County residents grocery-shopped more locally, seasonally and healthfully, us farmers would be sittin' pretty and I'd be property-shopping!

Until Shannon gets her dream property, 8th Street Greens continues to "grow it the healthy way" in this soil she's been stewarding for 10 years. A weeping crab apple tree looks over the greenhouse and freshly disced soil.

 

This Week's box has Original Salad Blend and Green Garlic from 8^th Street. We need to harvest the green garlic before it toughens up. Head Lettuce, either green or red loose leaf, from Yonder Farm (Watershine has sold the Filaree Farm name with the orchard and garlic so has re-named her row-crop operation as Yonder Farm! Yonder Farm is located in the same fields as Filaree was, so the food continues to be 30 years certified organic!). The storage potatoes are Viking (purple, good fryers) and Yukon Gold (excellent steamed, boiled and mashed, or good any way). They are from Sutton Farm out of Tonasket and grew in soil that is stewarded in an environmentally friendly way.

Pictured is the standard share with no added options.

The following two recipes would be good to keep around, as they are basics for regular use.

Wilted Greens with Basic Dressing

Aioli is good on sandwiches, with fish and chips, or with herbed potatoes or other foods.

Ingredients: 1/3 C. olive oil; 4 garlic cloves (or green garlic), minced; ¼ C. cider vinegar; 1 ½ 1b mixed tender greens (beet, mizuna, mustard or mesclun)

Preparation: eat oil and garlic in small saucepan over moderate heat until fragrant, approx. 1 minute. Stir in vinegar and immediately pour over greens. Season with salt and pepper and toss well. Serve right away. Serves 10-12 (Note: you receive ½ lb greens in your box, so you may want to decrease this recipe)

Aioli Sauce

Ingredients: ¼ C. extra virgin olive oil; 2 TB chopped green garlic; ¼ tsp. Coarse salt; ¾ C. mayonnaise, divided; 2 tsp. Fresh lemon juice

Preparation: Blend olive oil, garlic and salt in processor until garlic is minced. Add 2 TB mayo and blend well. Transfer to small bowl; whisk in remaining mayo and lemon juice.




Spinach and Green Garlic Souffle from Epicurious

Infusion

3/4 to 1 cup minced green garlic, about 5 small heads

1 cup cream or half-and-half

1 thyme sprig

The Soufflé

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for the dish

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 bunch spinach, stems removed, or 12 to 16 ounces loose, young spinach leaves

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups milk

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 scant cup (about 4 ounces) mild goat cheese

4 egg yolks

6 egg whites

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a 6-cup soufflé dish or gratin dish and dust it with a few tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese.

2. Put the garlic, cream, and thyme in a small saucepan over low heat. Bring slowly to a boil, then turn off the heat, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes.

3. Wash the spinach well, then wilt it in a skillet with the water clinging to the leaves. Tip it into a colander, press out the moisture, then finely chop.

4. Melt the 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook for 1 minute while stirring. Whisk in the milk and stir until it thickens. Add 1 teaspoon salt, then stir in the goat cheese and remaining Parmesan. Turn off the heat and stir in the egg yolks, spinach, and the garlic-cream mixture. Season with pepper.

5. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form firm peaks that are just a bit on the soft side. Fold the whites and base together. Scrape the batter into the prepared dish and bake until golden brown and set, about 25 minutes for a gratin dish, 30 minutes if using a soufflé dish.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spinach-and-Green-Garlic-Souffle-355946#ixzz1MTlWB2Gf