From Sally:
Given that we have potatoes coming for quite awhile, I thought you might like to have some basic info on them (below). This is from the Peconic Land trust, a BIG CSA in New York. If you want to look at the whole newsletter, you can probably get it at: jfargiano@peconiclandtrust.org.

Their newsletter this month is interesting as it reflects our happenings - we're on a smaller scale, of course - re: crops, what's up-coming, effects of weather conditions, etc. We also just heard of another large CSA farm near Kimberton whose whole crop of potatoes has been wiped out by a blight. Anyway, we're doing O.K. and thanks to all of you who are working with us!

As Deborah Madison, author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, writes, "Potatoes can be baffling." Some have a high-starch content. Harvested later in the season, they are good for baking and frying. Their dry mealy flesh makes a baked potato
fluffy and a fried one light and crisp.

Others have a low-starch content and they are waxy fleshed, moist, and dense. These steam and boil well, hold their shape and are the ones to use in salads, stews and gratins as they absorb liquid without falling apart.

Quail Hill's earliest harvested potatoes - Red Gold, Banana Fingerlingand All Red and many of the rest to come - contain very little starch and are best prepared roasted.

To determine if a potato is high or low in starch content, slice one with a sharp knife. If the knife is covered with a foamy substance or the potato grabs on to it, it's starchy and a baker. If not, it's a boiler. So-so, it's all purpose. Good luck!

Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte with Parmesan

Most of us are probably thinking about squash right now as yummy and fresh. Soon, of course, this will turn into "IMBY just gave me 5 lbs of squash and how do I use it up?!"

No worries, this recipe will use up squash AND those utterly delicious potatoes. It was easy to make, just quick slicing, no fine mincing or sauteing.

I found I needed more squash and more potatoes than they call for, but that might be a function of the size of my pans or the way I layered the vegetable slices. You can slice what they call for and then just keep the cutting board out and slice a few more as needed. For my taste it was also a bit salty, the cup of Parmesan provided a lot of salt.

Via Smitten Kitchen - you can see her photos and comments and link to a print version, via Bon Appetit, June 2001


Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte

Makes 8 servings
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced, divided
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
12 ounces yellow crookneck squash or regular yellow summer squash, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
6 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter two 8-inch-diameter cake pans.

Set aside 1/4 cup sliced green onions. Toss remaining green onions, cheese, flour, thyme, salt and pepper in medium bowl to blend.

Layer 1/6 of potatoes in concentric circles in bottom of 1 prepared pan, overlapping slightly. Layer 1/4 of squash in concentric circles atop potatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/6 of cheese mixture. Repeat with 1/6 of potatoes, then 1/4 of squash and 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/6 of cheese mixture. Top with 1/6 of potatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with 1/6 of cheese mixture and press gently to flatten. Repeat procedure with second cake pan and remaining potatoes, squash, oil, and cheese mixture.

Cover pans with foil. Bake until potatoes are almost tender, about 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered until tortes begin to brown and potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes longer. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cool. Cover with foil and chill. Rewarm, covered with foil, in 350°F oven until heated through, about 30 minutes.)

Cut each torte into wedges. Sprinkle wedges with 1/4 cup green onions; serve.

Beets, squash, blueberries and other news

From Sally:
Just FYI - you will be getting beets and squash (as well as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, garlic, potatoes) a lot this summer. The male squash flower is very good stuffed with cream cheese.

There are a number of delicious recipes for both as well as the creations a number of shareholders have related to me which they and their families find delicious. DO POST, for all to enjoy, any good finds!!!

Alternatively, learn how to preserve these delicious comestibles. Someone was recently telling me of a favorite "mother-made" recipe of pickled sugar beets (the beets you're getting) and hard boiled eggs - where the eggs turn that lovely pink. Sugar beets can also be cut very thinly (Cuisinart thin) and fried for really good "chips." Someone else boils them to just-soft and puts them in summer salads or as additives to summer soups - you can freeze these quick-cooked beets and pull them out for many things all year long. Cold borscht is another wonderful summer soup - with a daub of yogurt. There are MANY ways.

For squash - the variety you've been getting each have a different flavor, texture and use. Rose, our daughter visiting from CA, just made us a one-dish meal of the Lebanese White Squash from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Orzo-with-Summer-Squash-and-Toasted-Hazlenuts-108403
Summers squash = bake it, stuff it, chop it into salad, summer-soup it, use it for dips and thousands of things and finally, again, you can freeze it for the winter.

Wasn't the salad greens mix wonderful = delicate, well-rounded, good as-is or with additives. - I add marinated baby potatoes and the young onions.

Our blueberries have been attacked by marauding sparrows and other small birds who have discovered how to get into the Alley that was newly created this year. I HOPE we have repaired most of the holes. Thanks to Julia Shearer who spent the day sewing, with hemp, the two pieces of deer netting that join the "roof" to the front side. We still need the back seam to be similarly joined as well as tighter seams on the "roof." So that's something you may be doing if you're here putting in hours. It's VERY rewarding - in many ways. '

Till we've solved the problem, however, we will be collecting the berries that are ripe and providing them for you in a bowl at the pick-up site where the other produce is located - we can't wait for the pick-up time as the birds have access all day.

Enjoying the dry weather and sun??? So are we - it also means that we'll need to get the drip tape down a.s.a.p. We avoided watering too much after the months of wetness as it was choking the produce (less oxygen = smaller growth) as well as rotting and causing splits. But hearing the crop-losses of others, I think we're doing pretty well. Anyone available this weekend or before, you'll be doing the drip-tape dance.

Check out the baby eggplants with your younger children - it's fun to watch them grow. Hopefully turnips are on the horizon - they were effected by the wetness but may be salvaged.

That's all the growing news at the moment.

Rhubarb Raspberry Cobbler

I made this Raspberry Rhubarb cobbler for the IMBY Mistyhollow solstice party. Rhubarb is in season (and sold at Pete's) and is absolutely delicious.

Rhubarb Raspberry Cobbler With Cornmeal Biscuits

From the New York Times, June 5, 2009

(for more pictures of the baking process see my post here)

(Delicious!) whole grain salad recipes

Since Summer is the season for salads, and whole grains are delicious and healthy, I thought I would post recipes for a trio of tried-and-true salads. I'm also posting an "Asian Slaw" from Every Day Food.

The interesting thing is that these whole grain salads were in the July 1994 issue of Gourmet - way before quinoa and couscous were sold in a regular store in 2009 - very prescient of the editors.

These all do well if you make them the night before (and the slaw improves if made the night before), just don't add the parsley or basil until the day of. They do involve a fair amount of chopping and cooking of the grains - you need to put the grains on to cook first, and then start chopping.

I realized that a great secondary recipe could come out of making all these salads - you already have onions, lime, jalapeno peppers, cilantro - if you buy some tomatoes you can easily make salsa with only a few more slices of the knife.

To avoid re-posting published material, I am linking to the recipes on Epicuruous. Ignore all the "I made it exactly like the recipe only I changed these six ingredients" reviews on Epicurious, the recipes are delicious as is.

Couscous Salad with Peppers, Olives and Pine Nuts

Wheat Berry and Barley Salad with Smoked Mozzarella
You can use CSA chives, corn, tomatoes, and scallions

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad
CSA cilantro!
I followed Mark Bittman's method for cooking the quinoa (which seemed similar to rice/couscous, ie twice as much water, bring to boil, cook for 15 minutes), rather than their rather crazy 5 rinses of water.

Asian Cabbage Slaw
A good use for cabbage. I like it better the next day or even two days after