Thank you all for signing up for this one-time delivery. Our produce is abundant right now and we are pleased to share with all of you! The farm is beautiful this fall. We are irrigating, because we must, but the dry, sunny weather is healthy for our crops.
Veggie List & Veggie Notes
October 4, 2024
Autumn Frost winter squash
Carrots, 2lb
Bok choy
Leeks, 1 or 2
Bell peppers, a mix of colors and #1 & #2 grades
Oranos snack peppers, 1.75 lb
Jalapeno chile (in the bag of Oranos), 1
Daikon radish, ~2 lb total
Basil, 1 small bunch
‘Autumn Frost’ squash – Store cool and dry. 60 F is ideal.
This beautiful frosted squash has both pumpkin and butternut squash breeding. They cook and taste like an unusually good butternut, with rich, smooth texture. This is a fairly new variety. The breeders really knocked it out of the park with this one. The skin is edible.
Carrots – The first harvest of fall carrots!
Storage: Refrigerate.
Bok choy (rosette with thick white stems and green leaves) – This Asian green is good for stir-frying or sautéing or in soup. You can think of the stems and leaves as two separate vegetables. The stems require longer cooking. The leaves will cook almost as quickly as spinach. Bok choy stores well, so feel free to pull off leaves as you need them, or use the whole head at once.
Storage: Refrigerate in a plastic bag or other container.
Leeks (look like big scallions) – These alliums have a milder flavor than onions. Nonetheless, they can be used in recipes that call for onions. To wash, split the leek lengthwise, from the green tops about halfway to the base, leaving the base intact. Rinse well under running water, separating the layers to flush. If necessary, split the leek further if soil has penetrated more than halfway down the leek. Shake dry. Leeks are generally eaten cooked. They can be sauteed, steamed or roasted. Intact leeks will store 2 to 3 weeks if covered loosely and refrigerated. The outer leaves will yellow. Just peel them off and discard. The inner leek layers will be fine.
Bell peppers – We are sending a mix of #1 and #2 grade bell peppers. All are ripe and delicious. Examine your peppers. Use any with flaws first.
Storage: Refrigerate.
Korean radishes – These are a favorite vegetable among our farm crew. Crunchy Korean radishes are sweeter and milder than Japanese daikon radishes and come in a more manageable size. They contain lots of water, which makes them easy to pickle or ferment. You’ll receive at least two of the colors we grow: white, red and purple.
Storage: Refrigerate.
Basil – This batch is very fragrant. We harvested on a windy day. If your basil looks wilted, submerge in room temperature water for five minutes.
Storage: Trim the stem ends. Store at room temperature in a jar of clean water, like a flower bouquet. Chop finely, mix with olive oil and freeze for winter.
Your jalapeño chile will be in the bag of sweet Oranos peppers. Oranos are orange or orange & green. The jalapeño will be green, red, or green & red.
RECIPE IDEAS from BETH
Let’s brainstorm Oranos snack peppers
We love these flavor bombs and are sending a generous bag. Here are some ideas.
The perfect lunchbox snack
You could eat every one as a snacks – they are perfect in a lunchbox. Pack them whole or de-seed, cut in half and smear with a dollop of goat cheese.
Pickled peppers
You can pickle any type of pepper but Oranos are especially beautiful. Here’s my method.
Snack peppers, about 3 or 4 peppers per pint
Garlic, 1 crushed clove
Brine (enough for one packed quart jar):
Water, 2 cups
White vinegar, 3 Tbsp
Salt, 1.5 Tbsp
1. Mix the brine ingredients and stir at room temperature to dissolve.
2. Clean a pint or quart jar.
3. Slice your peppers in strips. Pack into the clean jar. Break the crushed garlic clove into a few pieces and tuck into the jar.
4. Pour brine to the top. Seal with a lid. Slowly rotate to let bubbles escape to the top.
5. Refrigerate for one day before eating.
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Appetizers / Charcuterie plate
Google ‘appetizer snack peppers’ for a wealth of options. Sliced Oranos are great for dipping in hummus or cheese dip. Add some sliced carrots, red peppers, and daikon to the plate for crunch and beauty.
Korean radish
You will receive at least two of the daikon colors we grew this year; white, red and purple.
This is a favorite vegetable among our farm crew. These crunchy Korean radishes are sweeter and milder than Japanese daikon radishes and come in a more manageable size. They contain lots of water, which makes them easy to pickle or ferment.
Here are some of my favorite uses.
Clockwise from top; Vietnamese Pickled Carrots & Daikon Radish Recipe (Đồ Chua, photo credit Hungry Huy); the Maangchi.com website has so many recipes for Korean daikon including Radish Kimchi (photo credit Maangchi).
Vietnamese Pickled Carrots & Daikon Radish Recipe (Đồ Chua)
From Hungy Huy.
This is my go-to recipe for mixed daikon-carrot salad. The recipe calls for a light fermentation but it’s good after an hour in the fridge. This pickled carrot-daikon salad is used to top bahn mi sandwiches and in other Vietnamese dishes. Huy offers a nice discussion of how this pickle evolved as his family emigrated to the US. He lists these other recipes that the pickles can be used with:
Vietnamese sandwiches (bánh mì), savory crepes (bánh xèo), grilled pork and noodles (bún thịt nướng), egg rolls (chả gìo), and the list goes on. Larger cuts are usually found next to cuts of meat, while finer shreds are put in nước chấm (dipping sauce).
Maangchi rules for radish ideas!
Head to Maangchi for dozens of radish recipes. She has the best website for Korean recipes. Her Radish Kimchi recipe is close to foolproof and easy to scale.
The Oriental Food Mart on Park Street in Madison is a Korean grocery that stocks Korean hot pepper flakes called for in many of her recipes. Ask the owner for help picking out your pepper flakes – he is super helpful. I keep a bag of medium heat in our freezer and use them in everything for flavor without excessive heat.