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Some Challenges

Posted on July 14, 2018 by mtrapp

As most of you know by now, farming always has its speed bumps. Sometimes crops don’t develop the way we hope because of weather conditions or other factors such as infections. Unfortunately, the norland red potatoes we are growing have developed a fungal infection. To combat this we are detaching the potatoes from the actual plant and storing them so as to not have them prone to the contagion. Not to worry – the potatoes will not lose any of their quality – they are still very tasty! and you will be getting them earlier!

Also, the broccoli in our uphill field was really slow to come on this year. We waited and waited, and got about a week out of broccoli before we came to the realization that it was not producing like we wanted, so we worked hard to get a second planting in the downhill field. We are hoping our hard work pays off and it turns up great! In the meantime, we still have an array of delicious and nutritious veggies on their way so we certainly won’t be lacking in variety!

A few recipes

Posted on July 6, 2018 by mtrapp

Green Bean Casserole Bundle

Ingredients:

1 c. cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c. milk

1/2 tsp. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. Freshly ground black pepper

2/3 c. French fried onions

3 1/2 c. cooked cut green beans

1 package bacon or Prosciutto

Directions:

– Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9″-x-13″ baking dish.
– In a large mixing bowl, stir together soup, milk, soy sauce, pepper, and French fried onions. Add green beans and toss to combine.
– Grab small bundles of green beans and wrap with a strip of bacon, placing each in the baking dish snugly. (The edges of the bacon should be pressed against the pan, so they don’t unravel while baking.)
– Cover with foil and bake until the bacon is fully cooked, 37 to 40 minutes.

Arugula Pesto

Ingredients:
4 cups packed fresh arugula
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup pure olive oil
2 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted, plus 1 tablespoon
1/8 teaspoon vitamin C (optional)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl, and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the
arugula in a large sieve and plunge it into the boiling water. Immediately immerse all the arugula and stir so that it blanches evenly. Blanch for about 15 seconds. Remove, shake off the excess water, then plunge the arugula into the ice water bath and stir again so it cools as fast as possible. Drain well.

Squeeze the water out of the arugula with your hands until very dry. Roughly chop the arugula and put in a blender. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste, olive oil, 2 tablespoons of the pine nuts, and the vitamin C, if using. Blend for at least 30 seconds. In this way the green of the arugula will thoroughly color the oil. Add the cheese and pulse to combine. The pesto will keep several days in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.

Pull out before dinner to get to room temperature. Before serving, add the remaining 1 tablespoon toasted pinenuts.

 

Farm Lunch: June 18th

Posted on June 18, 2017 by Ryan B.

In a previous occupation, I was employed at a fairly prestigious donut shop based out of Somerville. One of the shop’s signature donuts is a raised donut covered in a brown butter glaze, which is then tossed in toasted hazelnuts. The result being one of the most edifying eating experiences available to mortals. With that said, I feel responsible for carrying on the brown butter tradition wherever I go. On this occasion, the tradition manifested itself in Strawberry Brown Butter Bars.

Now before one dismisses brown butter as overly complicated hipster necromancy, checkout this link that nicely demonstrates the process of browning butter. It is fairly straightforward; as long as you keep an eye on the butter so it doesn’t burn, keep in mind that it is brown butter, not blackened butter. The end result can add deep toffee and nutty qualities to baked goods and other dishes.

For the most part, I did not alter the original recipe very much. Instead of cherries, I used our amazing strawberries and for the crust, I threw in some sage from our raised beds while I was browning the butter. Overall, I was pleased with how the recipe turned out. I expected the strawberries to be on the juicy side, but I could not resist using them. Albeit, the end result wasn’t the prettiest, it sure was tasty.

The finished product hot from the oven.

Pouring the brown butter batter over the berries.