Cheese - ‘Daisy’ (French Tomme) - Calkins Creamery, Honesdale, PA
1 dozen Free-Range Eggs
Pasta - Superior Pasta, Philadelphia, PA
The Norroway Pond corn chowder was SO GOOD, so most of the corn will go to that. Maybe I’ll make some pizza dough Saturday for the basil and tomatoes, and use the rest with the pasta. Some of the mushrooms could end up in both of those. If Jenn comes a-visiting, the rest might end up as duxelles.
The last time there was summer squash, I ended up grating it, salting it, and panfrying it. It was like a squash hashbrown, and I was pleased by how good it was. I could definitely try that again.
I still have peppers from the last CSA. Damn you, crisper drawer! Clearly, I have no idea what to do with peppers except eat them raw.
1/2 Gallon Hormone-free Milk, or 1/2 lb. Amish-style Butter
Meat Shares - Ground Lamb - Steve MacDonald, Swedesboro, NJ
I need to use up some eggs, stat. bda and I both agree that the Amish-style butter is no good, I heart Fage greek yogurt and do not want to switch, and I only use milk for cooking, so it will be eggs again this week. But, there are a dozen eggs in my fridge right now. Maybe I’ll make Jenn’s pavlovas, and just chuck the yolks.
I actually don’t mind the taste of eggplant (how could you? it’s always served with heaps of garlic and/or cheese!), but it makes me feel ill. So, who would like to win an eggplant? It will be a lightning giveaway, first person to claim it gets it. :)
Last, what to do with all this corn? It’s lovely and delicious, and I ate several ears of the last batch as midnight snacks, but … I’m being overwhelmed by corn. Tell me about a corn chowder recipe you like. Or something.
When they announced the 2009 CSA, there were supposed to be 5 greensgrow bucks a week in the basket, which I actually thought was genius. Last year, I totally breezed by their cases every week; 5 bucks would force me to look. Then, they decided to skip it, citing the (obvious in retrospect) overhead. But the last two weeks must have been light, so they’ve subbed it in for some other standard offerings. Clearly, my bucks will be allocated for fruit or cheese. I was excited by the honey chevre spread Jenn shared with me 2 weeks ago, so that may win out if there aren’t any cherries, berries or peaches to be had.
Which brings me to the problem vegetable of the week: beets. I know lots of people love them. It’s beet salad city in Philly restaurants right now. I still can’t get over my complete prejudice against them. Can they be roasted? I love roasted things, so maybe that will get me over it! How about grilled? Seriously, I think it might just be their wet, red beetiness that gets to me, and they would look more palatable if they were … dry.
It’s soaring highs, crushing lows week in the CSA basket. It’s a giant pile of YUM! And cucumbers. Blech. bda even threatened to eat them.
Basil - Greensgrow Farms and Spring Thyme Herbs, PA
Peaches - Fifer Orchards, Wyoming DE
Blueberries - Hasmmonton, NJ
Romaine Lettuce - Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ
Cucumbers - Lancaster County, PA
Corn - Gaventa Farms, Logan Township, NJ
Red Scallions - Landisdale Farms, Jonestown, PA
Onion Rolls- South Philadelphia, PA
Cheese - Mozzarella Balls - South Philadelphia, PA
Meat Shares - Angus Burgers - Buck Run Farm, Chester County, PA
After last week’s ill-fated butter selection, we’re back to the eggs for the dairy choice. The only thing you would expect to find in this basket that isn’t there… tomatoes. I’m sure bda will be happy to select some from the farm stand.
The best part of the Greensgrow CSA, at least for me, is definitely the cheeses. I’m definitely a cheese fiend, but it’s also a delight to have the opportunity to try so many great local cheeses. There is an occasional dud, to be sure, but they are usually quite delicious. To date, they’ve served up:
XX Sharp Cheddar, Le Rayesville Cheese Factory, Le Rayesville, PA
Fresh Chevre Spreads, Shellbark Hollow Farm, West Chester, PA
Cowtipper, Calkins Creamery, PA
Herbal Jack - Lancaster Farm Fresh, Lancaster, PA
Telford Tomme - Hendricks Farms, Lancaster, PA
The Cowtipper is a baby gouda soaked in Sierra Nevada pale ale for 48 hours. The Telford Tomme does not resemble any tomme I’ve ever seen before — maybe a CSA swap-out, and I wasn’t paying attention? — but it is delicious! It has the saltiness of a Parmigiano-Reggiano, but with more of the flavor of an aged cheddar. And who doesn’t love a little fresh chevre? (Actually, many of the men I know don’t care for goat cheeses at all, but I think they are very silly.)
Every week when I open their email, I go over the fruits with delight, the veggies with concern, and the meat with held breath (will this week be oysters, or ground bison?), but the cheese, I am always excited to try. Ok, not the pepper jack or the herbal jack or any other kind of jack you might have going. Did some shyster sell a jack culture to the cheese guys around here, and now they can’t root it out of their dairies?
Cherries - Lancaster County, PA Baby Spinach - Graiff Farms, Newfield, NJ Kale - Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ Zucchini - Lancaster County, PA Carrots - Flaim Farms, Vineland, NJ Turnips - Lancaster County, PA Cheese - Telford Tomme - Hendricks Farms, Lancaster, PA Meat Shares - Fennel OR Rosemary Sausage - Meadow Run Farms, Lititz, PA
Plus butter as the dairy option for this week. Cherries, baby spinach and carrots will go down easy. What would you do with the kale, zucchini and turnips? My goal is to have a plan for each item pre-pickup, to reduce the “forgotten in the crisper” CSA items.
Upsides: someone else thinks about some of the food I eat, and sends me recipes about it; fresh fruit; cool stuff like oysters; the cheese was pretty good; the eggs were GREAT, and I always finished them; supporting local farms = more goodness.
Downsides: I have to go to the farm to pick them up, which always made me feel swamped (though I could switch it to Saturday mornings for this year); it’s still pretty expensive (~$35/week) for what you get; sometimes I got stuff I couldn’t use or didn’t like (some of the cheeses, some of the meats, the veggies were usually pretty easy to swap, but how much cabbage can one girl eat?!?)
Also, my life is a lot more settled now than it was last summer (no more needing to get out of town every other weekend to get away from feeling crazy/sad), and I’m cooking much more than I was last year. So, I could probably use it more than I did then. But, I also still have ground lamb and turkey in my freezer from the last share that I didn’t use (I guess I could use them both in a chili, hm.)
