Week #2, May 30/31, 2019

Biscuits with green garlic.  Make your favorite biscuit recipe, but add lots of sliced scallions or green garlic. 

Food as love

Our daughter Sophie came home from college for a week before starting a summer internship in Minneapolis.  This is her first summer living away from home. Her visit fell during my busiest week, as we prepared for the first CSA delivery.  My head was spinning with all the details.  After watching us race around, she offered to cook dinner, a throwback to our ‘Wednesday night challenge.’  A few years ago, I challenged Sophie and Ari to cook dinner every Wednesday night.  Actually, it was a command.  On Wednesday, I am busy getting ready for the CSA pack and don’t have time for much else.  The kids were young teens but they took this seriously, making lasagne and other sophisticated meals.  Our kids know how to cook, and have been kitchen helpers since they were young.

For dinner, Sophie made us green garlic biscuits, turkey sausages and a huge mixed lettuce, spinach and arugula salad.  I was thrilled for the help and pleased with her competence.  During her school break this past winter, we sat down with my recipe folder and picked out favorites, choosing a list of 15 recipes she wants to learn.  We accomplished a dozen before calling it quits.  The fridge was stuffed with food and we were sick of cooking.

During the current visit, we added a few more favorites to her repertoire, including Penne with Spinach and Green Garlic.  Tonight, this became the first meal she cooked at her new home in Minneapolis!  The night before leaving, she regretted that we didn’t have time to make her favorite Rhubarb Pudding Cake so I got up early and baked one to send with her when she left.  She wasn’t going to starve on the drive with a rhubarb cake in the car.

Food is central to our family life, so it’s not surprising that I mother my kids with food.  I bet some of you do too.  Beth

Rhubarb Custard Cake, so good warm from the oven.  I’ll type up my recipe and post it in the Facebook page this week.

Sophie’s Penne with Spinach and Green Garlic, with chicken sausages mixed in.

Sophie and Beth (with Steve and Ari off-camera) at our favorite restaurant because it’s OK to eat out sometimes too.

Speaking of food love …

You folks have posted so many amazing dishes and recipes on our Facebook discussion page!  I am in awe, but have been too busy to chime in.  I counted at least 15 rhubarb recipes plus loads of vegetable dishes.  It’s a closed Facebook group, just for our CSA membership.  Go here to join.  Take a look at last week’s posts; many will be useful with this week’s produce.

Veggie List & Veggie Notes
Week #2, 5/30/19
– Weekly shares
– Every-other-week/ green group

Asparagus, ~1 lb
Bok choy, 1 large
Spinach, 1 bunch
Button mushrooms, 12 oz
Red leaf lettuce
Arugula, 1 small bunch
Salad radishes, 1 bunch
Green garlic, 1 bunch
Rhubarb, 1.5 lb

Next week’s box will probably contain asparagus, spinach, escarole, shiitake mushrooms, white salad turnips, Romaine lettuce, scallions.

See last week’s newsletter for storage and cooking information for these vegetables:
Asparagus, spinach, lettuce, arugula, salad radishes, green garlic, rhubarb

Asparagus – This week’s asparagus is from our farm and from LOTFOTL Farm in Elkhorn, run by our friends Tim Huth and April Yuds.  Tim is managing an organic asparagus field that’s larger than they need, and that they don’t have enough helpers to pick.  Our asparagus is less productive this year because of Japanese beetle attacks last summer.  We have the perfect joint solution; Steve, Karen and Kristin went down this week and harvested the asparagus, to deliver to you folks.  This week’s delivery is about half our crop and half LOTFOTL.

Bok choy (large 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.  Refrigerate in a plastic bag or other container.

Button mushrooms – These organic mushrooms are from Hidden Valley Mushrooms from Wisconsin Dells.  We bring in mushrooms from Mary every spring, because I think they combine so perfectly with our spring vegetables, for salads, quiches, etc.  
Storage: Here are Mary’s suggestions for storing the mushrooms:
– Store separate from leafy greens, which hasten mushroom aging.  
– If storing for more than a few days, remove from the box and store in a paper bag with holes punched in the side.  Keep dry.  
– Don’t wash to clean, just wipe with a damp cloth.

Storage Tip – Rhubarb

Rhubarb is so easy to freeze for later use in muffins, cakes, stewed rhubarb, etc.  Wash and dry your rhubarb stalks.  Chop into the size pieces you want.  Put in a freezer bag or container and place in the freezer.

That’s it!  No blanching, no need to spread on a cookie sheet.  The frozen chunks will stick together but are easy to break apart by slapping the bag of frozen rhubarb against your counter.

RECIPES

Visit our 2019 Recipe Log or our 2018 Recipe Log or join our Facebook discussion group.

LOCAL THYME/ Comforting Classics
Rhubarb Cream Scones
Asparagus Mimosa with Radishes, Capers, and Green Garlic Vinaigrette
Bok Choy and Tofu Fried Rice with Sesame Oil
Tortellini en Brodo

LOCAL THYME/ Outside the Box Recipes
Rhubarb Butter Glazed Bok Choy and Radish
Miso Roasted Asparagus
Coconut Curry Glass Noodle Soup with Bok Choy, Mushrooms, Radish and Chicken or Tofu
Roasted Trout, Radishes, and Asparagus on Wilted Spinach and Radish Greens

LOCAL THYME/ Quick & Easy Meal
Spinach, Arugula, and Radish Salad with Feta and Tuna or Chickpeas

RECIPES FROM LAUREN

MIDWEST BOK CHOY RAMEN SALAD
Takes 15 minutes.
Serves 2-4.

1 head bok choy, sliced thinly (stems and greens)
1 bunch radishes, greens removed, cut into matchsticks
2 green garlic, white and pale green parts, minced
1/2 cup roasted and salted cashews, roughly chopped
1/4 cup white or black sesame seeds (or a mixture)
Noodles from 1 package of beef ramen

Dressing:
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
Flavor packet from 1 package of beef ramen
Pinch Kosher salt

1. In a large bowl, combine bok choy, radishes, green garlic, cashews, sesame seeds and ramen noodles. Toss to combine.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients until smooth and uniform. Pour over bok choy mixture and stir well to evenly coat. Let sit 15 minutes before eating.

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MUSHROOMS & “LOTS OF GREENS” SHEET PAN QUICHE
Inspired by Smitten Kitchen
Because this is a sheet pan quiche, it’s a little trickier to use store bought pie crust.  I promise you that following the techniques below, you can make pie crust from scratch, but if you really don’t want to or don’t have the time, you could do this quiche in two store-bought frozen 9″ pie crusts.  Trader Joe’s has really stellar frozen pie crust!  You can also go crustless entirely and just make a delicious egg bake in a well-greased pan.

Takes 1 hour, 45 minutes if making the crust from scratch (much of it inactive) or 45 minutes with store-bought (or no) crust.
Serves 12-16.

Pie Crust:
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup water
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Filling:
2 tablespoons butter
2 green garlics, white and pale green parts only, minced
12 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
2-3 cups arugula, roughly chopped
2-3 cups spinach, roughly chopped
2-3 cups radish greens, roughly chopped
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 cups whole milk
6 large eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely grated parmesan

1. Begin preparing your crust (if you plan to make it; if you don’t skip to step #8). Cut the butter into small cubes and place in the freezer until ready to use. Fill measuring cup with 1 cup cold water and place in the freezer.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. If you have a food processor, combine flour, sugar and salt in there. This is my favorite way to make pie crust and it whips up in a snap!
3. Add butter to bowl and use your fingers to incorporate the butter into the flour (or add it to the food processor and pulse until the butter is mostly broken up). You will pinch the butter cubes into smaller pieces until they are about the size of peas and uniformly incorporated. Some pieces of butter will be small and some will be larger; that’s absolutely fine!
4. Remove†the water from the freezer and pour in half. Use a rubber spatula to press the dough together. If it’s still dry (it likely will be) continue to add water until the dough comes together. You may need to knead with your hands a little bit. (Here is where a food processor comes in great, turn the food processor on as you pour in about 3/4 cup of water and just leave it running until the dough begins to come together. It should take about 30 seconds, add a little more water if it seems to not be coming together).
5. Wrap pie dough in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 20 minutes or in the fridge overnight.
6. Remove dough from the freezer and roll out to an approximately 12×16-inch rectangle. Carefully, fold it in half and then in half again. Move the dough to a 10×14-inch baking sheet and unfold. Press gently into pan. Remove any excess dough from the edges. Prick the crust with a fork and place pan in the freezer.
7. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and while you wait for it to preheat, begin slicing your mushrooms and chopping your greens!
8. Once the oven is preheated, line your pie crust with foil and fill with pie weights (or dried beans or rice you don’t plan to cook). Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake 5 minutes longer. If using store-bought crust, follow package directions for pre-baking.
9. While the crust bakes, melt the butter for the filling in a large, deep saute pan (the larger the better, you’re going to be throwing a lot of greens in here– if you don’t have a large saute pan use a soup kettle) over medium low heat. Add the green garlic and cook for a couple minutes until fragrant. Add mushrooms and saute until soft, about 10 minutes more. Add all the greens, water, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to your pan. Saute until the greens are well wilted.
10. In a large bowl, beat softened cream cheese with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the milk and whisk until smooth. Add the eggs, two at a time, again whisking until smooth after each addition. Stir in sauteed mushrooms and greens along with the cheeses.
11. Pour filling into the prepared, prebaked crust and bake until filling is set, about 30 minutes.

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