Extension share, Nov. 8, 2018

Such a busy week

Temperatures are dropping sharply tonight, and tomorrow night, and every night for the next week.  This brings a sudden end to our field season.  We hustled all week to finish our field work.  It has been a sprint.

Garlic planting.  We planted much more garlic than usual, with plans of having more garlic for the CSA boxes next year.  First, I chose our best garlic bulbs.  Then we cracked them into individual cloves.  Each clove will grow into one bulb.  We’ll mulch the field with straw soon, to protect the plants from fluctuating temperatures this winter.

Cabbage harvest.  The heads are small this year, but almost all are perfect.  This is good news.  After the rainy summer and fall, we worried there would be rot in the cabbages but it has not been a problem at all.  We also harvested all the remaining broccoli, cauliflower and Romanesco.  We’ve been waiting for these cool-loving crops to size up, but they are out of time.

Rutabagas were our final root harvest for the year.  Steve cleaned the harvester thoroughly this afternoon.  Tomorrow, he’ll take it to the neighbor’s shed for the winter.

Even with a mechanical harvester, we still pick up dropped roots by hand.  It’s worth our time.

Maggie washes beautiful purple daikon for you.

Our farm cat Charlotte abandoned her kittens on Monday, leaving me to bottle-feed them during a very busy week.  I don’t look too dismayed, do I?  Charlotte evaded capture when we got cats neutered earlier this year but we’ll try again.  Both kittens are available for adoption.

Daylight saving shortens our work days.  We will finish a few harvests tomorrow, then our outdoor work in finished for the season!  Beth

Veggie List and Veggie Notes
Extension Share, Nov 8/9, 2018

Sweet potatoes, ~2.5 lb
Butternut squash, 1 medium or 2 small
Portobello mushrooms, 2 – 3
Savoy cabbage, 1 medium
Carrots, 2 lb
Beets, 2 lb
Red mustard greens, 1 bunch
Purple daikon, a few
Broccoli OR cauliflower, about 1 lb total
Yellow onions, ~3

Portobello mushrooms – These beauties are from Mary at Hidden Valley Mushrooms in the Wisconsin Dells.  We will pack them in brown paper bags.  Mary says to store them in your fridge in the paper bag.  Eat soon; they are fresh, lovely and perishable.

Purple daikon – These Korean radishes are so pretty.  Slice or cut into matchsticks to add to cabbage or carrot salads.

RECIPES

Visit our 2018 Recipe Log or our 2017 Recipe Log or join our Facebook discussion group.

LOCAL THYME/ Comforting Classics
Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup
Braised Cabbage with Prosciutto
Chickpea Salad with Roasted Beet and Sunflower Seeds
Mustard Green Caesar with Chicken or Chickpeas

LOCAL THYME/ Outside the Box Recipes
Sunny Curried Sweet Potato Salad
Pasta with Cabbage and Meat Sauce
Beet and Cabbage Kraut
Mustard Greens and Turkey Salad

LOCAL THYME/ Quick & Easy Meal
Breakfast Bahn Mi Sandwich with Daikon and Carrot Pickles

LOCAL THYME/ Daikon recipes from July
Cabbage and Daikon Fried Rice
Curried Daikon
Fish and Cabbage Tacos with Quick Pickled Purple Daikon

RECIPES FROM LAUREN

BUTTERNUT SQUASH & BEET PIZZA
Adapted from Half Baked Harvest
I love love love the pizza dough recipe linked to below (by Pioneer Woman). It is my go to crust every single time I make pizza. I especially love it because it doesn’t only prefer to be made in advance, it actually gets better the longer you wait to use it. I am always making a batch on Sunday and waiting until Thursday or Friday to make a quick pizza. The way it slow ferments in the fridge makes a perfect crust every time (plus no kneading necessary!). If you don’t want to make a crust at least 24 hours in advance, than I recommend you use whatever recipe works for you quickly or getting a batch of store-bought dough instead.  Lauren.

Serves 4-6
Takes 1 hour, 15 minutes

1/2 batch favorite pizza dough (see note above)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups cubed butternut squash
2 cups cubed beets
3 tablespoons butter, divided
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup warm whole milk
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmsean
1 apple, thinly sliced
1 ounce blue cheese
1 cup shredded Gouda cheese

1. At least a day before you plan to make this pizza, make the pizza dough. Unless you have a quicker crust you prefer (see note above).
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
3. In a small bowl whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, maple syrup, cayenne, red pepper flakes and cinnamon.
4. Spread the squash and beets out on a single layer and drizzle with olive oil mixture. Toss to coat. Roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
5. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onions, cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until softened. Add cider slowly (about 1/4 cup at a time) so that each addition soaks into the onions, caramelizing them slightly, before adding more. Cook onions until caramelized to your likely, about 20 minutes total.
6. Meanwhile, prepare your sauce. Melt remaining butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until incorporated. Let bubble and brown slightly for a minute. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the warm milk and salt. Stir consistently for the next 5-10 minutes until thickens into a thin sauce. Add Parmesan.
7. Roll out dough into the size of your pan (round or rectangle will both work fine). Spread sauce over crust followed by half the roasted vegetables. Evenly distribute onions, apples and blue cheese over crust followed by the remaining roasted veggies and finally the shredded cheese.
8. Bake for 30 minutes until crust is golden and crisp.

.
SWEET POTATO BIBIMBAP

Serves 4-6
Takes 1 hour

2 cups water
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, divided
1 cup brown rice
2 tablespoons white miso paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups cubed sweet potato
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 pound portabella mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch ginger, peeled and minced
1 bunch mustard greens, ends trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 daikon, cut into matchsticks
1-2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
Soft-boiled or fried eggs, optional

Sauce:
2 tablespoons tamari
1-2 tablespoons sriracha
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the rice. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 45-50 minutes until rice has absorbed water.
3. On a baking sheet, combine sweet potatoes, olive oil and white miso as best you can. There will likely be some small chunks of miso in places. Don’t worry about that too much. Roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes until browned.
4. In a large heavy skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and remaining 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt. Saute for 10 minutes until softened but still maintaining some bite. Remove to a small bowl.
5. Add garlic and ginger to the same pan you cooked the mushroom in. No need to wipe it out (you don’t want to lose any of those delicious mushroom juices). Saute for 2 minutes over medium low heat until fragrant. Add mustard greens. Wilt over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add toasted sesame oil and saute 3 minutes longer. Finish with sesame seeds and continue cooking until greens are as wilted as you like.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients. Use 1 tablespoon sriracha if you aren’t a big fan of spice. Use the full 2 tablespoons if like a bit of heat.
7. Serve cooked rice with sweet potatoes, mushrooms, greens, raw radish, raw carrot, a drizzle or two of sauce, and a cooked egg if you please.

.