Pepper harvest is increasing and thus the crew has been entertaining themselves with eating hot peppers..my favorite game so far was when Lewis and Aaron had a bin of mixed up Jimmy Nardellos and Cayennes (don't worry, we didn't give anyone anything from that bin) and were playing a bit of roulette guessing which was which...I can sum this up by saying there was lots of hiccuping and laugh-crying going around!
This is also the time of year that is both really fulfilling and incredibly heartbreaking. When you break your back to plant, grow and harvest so many different crops it is so thrilling to see an abundant harvest when it happens but it is also so hard to see what we refer to as the "seconds" sometimes get composted or fed to the chickens. We try to sell as much as we can through various channels but inevitably those scarred fruits and veggies don't all get used. Luckily these surpluses don't last forever and we are able to send them to food banks, use them in our kitchen, send them to folks who like to preserve for the winter and finally recycle them within our own systems on the farm. If any of ya'll are interested in buying a mass quantity of tomatoes (paste, heirloom or slicer) for canning or freezing let us know, we have a lot of them right now and would love to share!
Until next week!
Jen
MUSTARD BUNCH (Large only): Speaking of mustards...we have a full-size bunch for you! These are a mix of gold frills, ruby streaks, mispoona. I know that is mostly a bunch of garble so what I really mean is there are several different flavors and textures in these bunches, some are mildly spicy, some are sweet, all are pretty cool looking. Large size mustards are great for braising!
POTATOES: Large share recieved purple flesh potatoes, mini share received purple skin new potatoes. Yay for purple. Keep the new potatoes in the cooler, the large share potatoes can be stored at room temp though!
JIMMY NARDELLO PEPPERS (Mini only): This fine Italian pepper was grown each year by Giuseppe and Angella Nardiello, at their garden in the village of Ruoti, in Southern Italy. In the 1800s they set sail with their one-year-old daughter Anna for a new life in the USA. When they reached these shores, they settled and gardened in Connecticut, and grew this same pepper that was named for their fourth son Jimmy. This long, thin-skinned frying pepper dries easily and has such a rich flavor that this variety has been placed in "The Ark of Taste" by the Slow Food organization. There really is no comparison to these guys, they are SOOOOO amazing. They LOOK like a hot pepper, they have a fantastic flavor and they go well with pretty much anything and everything. Don't be afraid of them! So many people say they don't like them because they think they are spicy. I really like them diced or sliced thinly and added to a salad raw, or sautéed and thrown on pizza.
POBLANO PEPPERS (Large only): Usually you get a poblano that is a deep red, these guys got harvested green so they have a bit of the poblano flavor but not much of the spice. I would treat it more like a green bell than anything. If you are sensitive to spice, taste first, especially if yours has a bit of red coloration to it. I would stuff these guys with the other larger pepper (see below). Maybe a non-spicy chile relleno?
SWEET PEPPER (Large only): The orange, yellow or red larger pepper. A stocky red or stocky gold. The heirlooms of bell peppers. Delicious!
BASQUE PEPPER (Large only): These guys are the short red ones. They have a slight kick to them and are super flavorful. If you definitely don't want spice, take out the seeds. I like using these ones for all sorts of things! Scrambles, sautéing, salsa.
SCALLIONS (Large only): A beautiful bunch, so useful!
CILANTRO (Large only): With the cool weather, cilantro is back as well! A perfect little bunch, if you are going to store in fridge just put it in a jar with the ends in water. Change the water every couple of days if you continue to use and don't want a funky stench. No one likes gross cilantro mold water. Well, I don't at the very least.
PASTE TOMATOES (Large only): Amish paste tomatoes are great for salsa and sauces. You can make a great batch of salsa with the basque peppers (act like a jalapeño), scallions (in for a white onion) and cilantro. Diced nice and small, yum. Or you can roast the tomatoes or grill if that's the way you roll. There are so many great recipes out there. As long as you have the basic ingredients you can alter anyway you like. Salsas are so much fun to mess with, you can't really make a horrible one. Here is a lovely recipe that you can alter based on the amount of tomatoes, peppers and onions you have.
GREEN BEANS (Mini only): Yum, savor that summer flavor!