Two Farms Newsletter #417

October 9, 2007
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Table of Contents:

1) In your box this week
2) Global Perspective
3) Benefit Dinner in Monterey on Nov. 11th for the Ventana Wilderness Alliance
4) Photos
5) Recipes
6) Which Farm?
7) Unsubscribe
8) Two Small Farms Contact Information
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1) In your box this week: Tomatoes, Romaine Lettuce, Leeks, Fennel, Fingerling Potatoes, Rugosa Winter Squash (an Italian variety of winter squash, similar to a butternut), mystery item from Stephen

This week's vegetable list: We try to have it updated by Monday night, sometimes by Mon. am:

How to store this week's bounty: all - except the tomatoes and winter squash - go in the fridge as soon as you arrive home.

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2) Global Perspective by Andy

I hardly bother to listen to the weather reports anymore. From the middle of April until the middle of September the weather is nearly always the same here in central California, and by October, when the weather finally starts to get interesting again, I have my friend Martin to rely on for information.

Martin is a farmer too, and he used to have the same need to keep up with the weather reports. He farmed along Pomponio Creek, up the San Mateo Coast, where the wind blows strong off the cold Pacific and the storms hit hard. Eventually, the endless rains of an El Niño system kept Martin’s fields wet so late into the spring that he couldn’t get planted in time and he went out of business. After a hiatus spent working in restaurants, Martin got back into farming, but this time he started farming inside greenhouses down in Chualar, south of Salinas. Greenhouses don’t just provide warmth and shelter from the wind for the crops inside, they also protect the farmer from the dire consequences of a wet spring.

But if Martin no longer needs to follow the weather as closely as he once did, following the weather had become a habit and a passion for him, and he keeps up with every system that develops, from the Malaysian archipelago to the Gulf of Alaska. Growing crops in a greenhouse has many advantages over working in the open under the sky, but I suspect that Martin misses the thrill that open air farmers feel when they look heavenward and wonder if their best efforts are going to be washed away. So Martin watches the weather channel, he follows the storms on computer, and he keeps an eye on the sky outside. When changes are brewing a thousand miles out over the Pacific he calls me. It makes him uneasy that I’m too distracted with the superficial day to day details of farming and family to inform myself of what’s headed my way. I suspect he even feels I’m tempting fate by paying so little attention to the weather gods.

This Monday Martin called, me from Paris, France, to tell me about the satellite photos of storm systems lined up across the Pacific like folks buying bus tickets, all bound for California. Martin likes to keep a global perspective. He had an opportunity to travel to Europe— or maybe it’s more correct to say he “created” an opportunity by not having kids— and he spent three weeks traveling across the south of France and the length of Italy, observing the heirloom vegetables that he and I like to cultivate, growing in their ancestral Mediterranean farm fields.

I was able to bring Martin up to date on the precise meteorological conditions on his farm here that prevailed here by looking out my pick-up truck window and adding in some wind to approximate Chualar’s typical brisk ambiance. And I was able to tell him that I’m as ready as I can be for what ever nature throws my way. The hard squash have been taken in from the fields, the seed beds for the next wave of fall planting have been prepared, and our remaining onions are safely under cover. Our first wave of fava beans have been planted for early spring harvest, and I’m already making seed orders for next spring’s planting schedule. When Martin gets back from Europe today he will in all likelihood discover that summer is over along the Central Coast for 2007, and he missed the last golden days, but that’s just what he gets for traveling to Italy, and sipping wine along the Adriatic Sea.

copyright 2007 Andy Griffin

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3) Ventana Wilderness Alliance Benefit Dinner: VWA is a favorite charity of many of us here at Two Small Farms: Sunday Nov. 11th starting at 5:45 pm in Monterey at Stokes Restaurant and Bar: $65/person includes tax and tip but not beverage. For more info, go to our web page or call or email Zelda at the office to make your reservation: 831-786-0625, csa@twosmallfarms.com
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4) Photos:

Tomatoes

Fennel

Leeks

Rugosa Winter Squash

Photo Gallery

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5) Recipes from Roxanne, Nina, Rhonda, Ilene, Alice, Alexis and Zelda
Roasted Tomato Soup, from Monterey CSA member, Ilene

"This soup is so incredibly delish and so very easy. Everything can be adjusted to fit what you have on hand -- and then it can even be frozen! I made two batches with last week's plum tomotoes; we ate one and froze the other."

2 lbs of tomatoes, washed, hulled and halved
1 onion, sliced
5 cloves of garlic (peeled)
Some olive oil
1 cup (more or less) of vegetable or chicken broth

Place the halved tomatoes, cut side down, into a greased 12x9 pan. Place the onion slices and garlic cloves on top of them. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Place half of the roasted goodies into a blender. Add about half the broth and puree. Pour into a saucepan. Repeat with the other half. Warm gently in the saucepan until the deisred temperature. Serve, dotted with homemade croutons or drizzled with sour cream.


Roxanne from Capitola has been roasting the tomatoes per instructions from Alice Waters:
Rinse and trim stem end off.
Make a shallow slit lengthwise with tip of your knife (so they don't explode)
Use a pyrex type baking dish with 2" sides
Place them on their sides as tightly as possible in 1 layer
Drizzle a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt

"If you're really busy, roast/bake VERY slowly 200-225F for 3-4 hours. If you can watch more closely, 350-375F will cook them in 45min to 60min. When cool enough to handle, run thru food processor or blender. This will produce a sauce thicker than commercial tomato sauce, but looser than tomato paste. I freeze them in 1 cup size portions, perfect for 2 medium pizzas, 1# pasta, most tomato based stews, beans, soups. The real beauty of these tomatoes is the wonderful texture and flavor they have without much cooking or additional ingredients needed. YIELD: 1 bag of 2-3 lbs tomatoes make 3-4 cups of sauce."

Nina in San Carlos has been making this tomato soup recipe, loosely adapted from a couple of recipes from Martha Stewart Living:

Tomato Soup, serves 2
1 t olive oil
1 t butter
1 clove garlic, minced
6 scallions, sliced (or other onion)
1 c chicken broth
2 lbs. tomatoes, peeled and chopped (to peel, cut out core, place in boiling water for about 30 seconds, then move to a bowl of ice water, the peel should slip right off)
2 sprigs fresh oregano
S&P (to taste)
1/2 t sugar (more or less depending on sweetness of tomatoes)

In a saucepan, saute garlic and scallions/onions in olive oil and melted butter. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, & oregano. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 45 minutes. Mash with potato masher if pieces are too big. You can puree it if you like but it was really nice kind of chunky. Add S&P and sugar to taste. Enjoy!

Penne with Garlicky Winter Squash, Jeanne Lemlin, Foodnetwork

1/4 cup olive oil
4 cups diced (1/2-inch) winter squash
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
6 sage leaves, minced or 1/4 teaspoon powdered sage
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound uncooked penne
Grated Parmesan

Bring a large quantity of water to a boil in a stockpot. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in the squash and saute 5 minutes, or until it begins to get golden. Sprinkle in the garlic and saute 2 minutes. Pour in the 1/4 cup water, nutmeg, sage, parsley, salt and pepper, and cover the pan. Cook the squash until tender, about 5 minutes more. Cook the penne until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly in a colander and return to the pot. Spoon on the squash mixture and toss gently. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan and pass more at the table.

Butternut Squash Soup, submitted from CSA member Alice. Recipe courtesy of Gourmet Magazine

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 1/4 pounds)
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger, optional
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups chicken broth
1-2 cups water, as needed
Salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream for garnish

Cut squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Arrange the halves cut side down in roasting pan that has been sprayed with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Bake squash in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until very tender. Set aside to cool. When the squash is completely cool, scoop the flesh from the skin. While the squash is baking, cook the onion and the ginger in the butter in a saucepan, over moderately low heat, for 5 minutes or until the onion is softened. Add the broth and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes, covered. Add the squash pulp to the sauce pan. Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor, in batches, and puree until smooth. Add enough water to achieve the desired consistency, and salt and pepper to taste. Return the soup to the sauce pan and cook over moderate heat until it is hot. Garnish each portion with the heaping teaspoon of low-fat sour cream.

Pumpkin or Winter Squash Puree, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone Deborah Madison

Easy, versatile and useful, leftovers can fill ravioli, turn into a soup, or be added to muffins, breads, biscuits, and waffles. Preheat oven to 375 F. Halve, seed, and bake 3 pounds pumpkin or winter squash until tender, approx. 30 - 40 mins. Scrape the flesh away from the skin, then beat until smooth with a large wooden spoon. This should be easy unless the squash is stringy, in which case, use a food processor or food mill. Stir in butter to taste and season with salt and pepper. Makes about 2 cups. To enrich the puree, grate Gruyére, Fountain, or Emmenthaler into it. Flavor with extra virgin olive oil, or dark sesame oil, or mix in sautéed onions.


Nina in San Carlos also suggests the Simply Recipes, for some good and easy recipes, including this one:
POTATO LEEK SOUP, this recipe can be prepared in 40 minutes or less.

3 large leeks, cut lengthwise, separate, clean. Use only the white and pale green parts, chop.
2 Tbsp butter
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
2 lbs potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
Salt & Pepper
Marjoram - dash
Tabasco sauce or other red chili sauce

Cook leeks in butter with salt and pepper in a medium sized sauce pan. Cover pan, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Check often. Do not brown leeks! Browning will give leeks a burnt taste. Add water, broth, and potatoes. Cook for 20 minutes. Scoop about half of the soup mixture into a blender, puree and return to pan. Add dash of marjoram and chili sauce to taste - about 1/4 teaspoon. Serves 4-6.

Leek and Fennel Mashed Potatoes, Gourment, Decemeber 2001

2 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only), quartered lengthwise, then finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 lb yellow-fleshed potatoes such as Yukon Gold
1 medium fennel bulb (sometimes called anise; 1 1/4 lb), stalks trimmed flush with bulb, bulb halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1/3 cup low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
2/3 cup 1% milk, heated
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Special equipment: a potato ricer, or a food mill fitted with medium disk

Wash leeks in a bowl of water, then lift into a sieve to drain. Cook leeks with 1/4 teaspoon salt in 1 teaspoon butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and beginning to brown, 6 to 8 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Reserve skillet.

Peel and quarter potatoes, then cover with salted cold water by 1 inch in a 4-quart saucepan and simmer until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. While potatoes are simmering, cook fennel with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in remaining teaspoon butter in skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broth and simmer, covered, until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and force through ricer or food mill back into saucepan. Stir in milk, leeks, fennel, and pepper. Can be made 1 day ahead and reheated - this lets the flavors develop.


Linguini with Spicy Leeks and Tomatoes, adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2007

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp. fennel seed (or try substituting with 1 tsp, more or less, of finely chopped fennel leaves)
2 medium leeks (white and pale green parts only), split lengthwise, sliced crosswise
1 1/4 pounds plum tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
12 ounces linguine
1 1/4 cup reserved pasta water
1 3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add next 2 ingredients; sauté 1 minute. Add leeks; sauté until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add diced tomatoes; stir 1 minute. Add wine and vinegar; bring to boil. Add fennel leaves and stir in, cover and cook until tomatoes break down, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain, reserving 1 1/4 cups pasta cooking liquid. Add pasta, 1/2 cup reserved pasta liquid, and 3/4 cup cheese to sauce in skillet. Toss over medium-high heat until sauce coats pasta, adding more liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if dry. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing 1 cup cheese separately.


Fennel: popular as a vegetable in Italy, it can be thinly sliced and eaten plain or as part of a vegetable platter. It is often served with just salt and olive oil as a simple appetizer or salad course. It can be chopped up into salad as celery, and indeed used almost anywhere celery is used. I once saw it added to chili -it was delicious. It was a popular herb in the ancient world of the Greeks and Romans. A recipe from Columella, a Spaniard who served in the Roman army in Syria in AD 60: "Mix fennel with toasted sesame, anise, and cumin then mix that with pureed dried fig and wrap in fig leaves and then store in jars to preserve." (From Spencers The Vegetable Book)

Fennel is high is vitamins A and E, calcium and potassium. Fennel and ginger make a good digestive tea. (Steep the fresh leaves with a bit of sliced ginger for 5 minutes in boiling water.)

SOME FENNEL IDEAS from The Victory Garden Cookbook

Sprinkle chopped fennel leaves on hot baked oysters or clams.

Add cooked fennel to omelets, quiches, stuffings or sauces.

Add stalks to stocks for their flavor.

Add sliced sauteed fennel to fish chowders.

Cook fennel in your favorite tomato sauce.

Place stalks and leaves on barbeque coals as they do in France. The fennel scent permeates the grilled food.

Slice steamed or blanched fennel, cover with a vinaigrette and serve chilled.

Chop raw fennel and add to tuna fish sandwiches.

Slice fennel thin and layer with raw potatoes, cream and cheese to make a potato au gratin.

Two recipes from CSA member Alexis:

Fennel-Turnip Soup
A tasty, smooth, creamy soup without the use of starches or cream.

4 turnips, roughly chopped
2 small fennel bulbs (green parts too), roughly chopped
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
4 cans chicken stock
Pepper to taste

Sautee onions in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add turnips, garlic and fennel and sautee a few more minutes. Add chicken stock and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until veggies are fork tender, about 20 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender (or a regular blender or food processor). Strain though a fine sieve and serve.

Strawberry Fennel Salad

1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 pint strawberries, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
A couple squeezes of fresh lemon juice

Toss all ingredients and serve.

Leek recipes

Fennel recipes

Potato recipes

Tomato recipes

Winter Sqash recipes
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6) Which Farm?

>From High Ground: Fennel, leeks, romaine lettuce, mystery
>From Mariquita: Tomatoes, potatoes, rugosa winter squash

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7) Unsubscribe/Subscribe From/To This Newsletter

Two Small Farms Blog

BLOG ADVANTAGES: I can change mistakes after I post them. I don't have to subscribe/unsubscribe folks. Old newsletters easily accessed. Links! (I send this newsletter out as plain text so more folks with differently-abled computer systems can easily read it.) You can sign up for email updates to the Two Small Farms Blog on the main blog page:
http://twosmallfarms.blogspot.com/

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8) Two Small Farms Contact Information

Two Small Farms
Mariquita Farm/High Ground Organics
Organically Grown Vegetables
831-786-0625
P.O. Box 2065
Watsonville, CA 95077
csa@twosmallfarms.com
http://www.twosmallfarms.com
http://www.mariquita.com
http://www.highgroundorganics.com

Two Small Farms Newsletter #406

July 23rd 2007

Table of Contents:

1) In your box this week
2) Swing Low Sweet Chariot
3) Events: U-picks and dinner at the farm
4) Photos
5) Recipes
6) Which Farm?
7) Unsubscribe
8) Two Small Farms Contact Information
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1) In your box this week: Green Onions, Strawberries, Salad Mix, Rosemary, Potatoes, Fennel, Mystery item, and red onions

How to store this week's bounty: all in the fridge as soon as you arrive home! The potatoes are "fresh dug" - they have not been cured and so must be stored in the fridge. Also, the rosemary will last a few weeks if you store it in the fridge in a plastic bag.

This week's vegetable list: I try to have it updated by Monday night, sometimes by Mon. am

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2) Swing Low Sweet Chariot

"What has eyes but does not see?" croons the singer. "Does not see, does not see..."

"A potato, stupid!" bellowed Magdalena from the back seat. When my daughter was six she took great pleasure in beating the chorus girls to their punch lines.

"A potato, a potato, a potato," cooed the backup singers belatedly as Lena laughed. It was the shmaltzy Silly Songs again, a grubby kiddie-music cassette making its millionth passage through the bowels of the tape deck in our mini-van.

"Play it again!" yelled Lena, and I did- not because I liked the song, but because I love my daughter. The song is all wrong. My sympathies are entirely with Mr. Potato Head. I compare and contrast him with the King of Spain.

The Spaniards broke into Peru like they had cracked a safe. They were so dazzled by the glitter of the gold they were stealing, they had no eyes for the potato. Pound for pound, the potato has proved to be one of the most productive and nutritious vegetable foods ever developed by humankind. Potatoes provide complex carbohydrates, starches, vitamins, minerals, and proteins and can be cultivated under a wide variety of environmental conditions. Potatoes can be stored fresh for long periods of time against the threat of famine. Dried, Inca-style, as chuño, potatoes last almost indefinitely.

Desirable potato varieties are easily cloned and propagated by slicing a potato into parts, each piece with its own two or three eyes, and planting them deep in well-drained soil. There is enough water and energy stored in the tuber to send green shoots to the soil's surface. If the potato plant's vigorous roots can tap into sub-soil moisture, the potato may not even need irrigation before setting a bountiful harvest. You can't eat gold. In the end the Spaniards squandered all the gold they tore from Peru by financing religious wars. It fell to Spain's dread enemy, protestant England, to harvest the real treasure of Peru by cultivating the potato.

Even the English didn't perceive the commercial potential of the potato at first. Some of the blame for this blindness must be laid on the cooks who, misunderstanding the strange new plant, steamed the potato foliage instead of the tubers. Diners got sick from solanine poisoning. More to blame were the theologians of the day. Protestants were reluctant to plant potatoes because, having not been mentioned in the Bible, they were "of Satan." A few Catholics tried cultivating potatoes- but as a hedge on their spiritual gamble, they planted their crops amid prayer on Good Friday and irrigated their fields with holy water.

Here, around the Monterey Bay in Central California, we have such unpredictable rainfall that all water ought to be considered holy. While my irrigation water has never been consecrated, I can tell you Good Friday is a later planting date for potatoes than I'd choose. Domesticated potatoes do best under the cool conditions of late winter that most closely mimic the high Andean altitudes of their wild ancestors.

I prefer to plant my potato crop in February. A farmer can plant a couple of weeks before the last frost for maximum yield. Soil is a good insulator. It will take the potato's new shoots a couple of weeks to reach the surface, and by then the threat of frost will have passed. Potatoes planted into warm weather never yield quite as well and are more prone to disease and insect pressure.

Once the potato was adopted in the British Isles, it became one of the most efficient engines driving the industrial revolution. Potatoes yield more nutrition with less persistent labor from fewer acres than other crops. With the introduction of potato cultivation peasants were kicked off of their farms by their overlords to make room for sheep. When they had been shorn of their land, the peasants were free to be wage slaves in the factories, working with the machines that spun wool into cloth. A diet of potatoes, augmented with the milk and cheese from the family goat, enabled this process of enclosure and industrialization to move forward.

But where Andean farmers had cultivated a rainbow of different potato varieties, Europeans cultivated only a few genotypes. When disease struck the European potato crop almost every plant died, from the Volga to Donegal Bay. Lack of genetic diversity meant there were no blight-resistant potato clones to survived for replanting. In Ireland over a million people died, and another million emigrated.

Today Ireland is doing well, but Peru is still recovering. Some visitors compare the squalid poverty of modern Peru to the ancient splendors of Macchu Picchu, the mysteries of the Atacama mummies and the Nazca Lines. It seems hard to connect the impoverished circumstances of the short, brown peasants that scrub in the earth for potatoes and chew on wads of coca leaf to mitigate the discomfort of altitude sickness, with the ancient imperial splendor of the Incas, who studied astronomy. A theory germinates on the kook fringe of archeology. "The Nazca Lines must have been cut across the desert floor to guide

UFOS in for landing. The surprising wisdom of Peru's past civilizations came from outer space!"

There is something refreshing about this notion. For once, real aliens get credit for their contributions to culture. Of course, the people who patiently worked for over 4000 years to transform the potato from a bitter tuberous herb into a vegetable that became a crop of international importance, are rendered invisible by the fantastic glow of more highly-evolved space beings. But are saucerites kooks? Maybe we all ought to hope that the UFOs return. After all, if we ruin this planet, we're going to need to fly to another one. Swing low, sweet chariot.

"What has eyes, but does not see, does not see, does not see?"

Silly songs aside, it's not the potato that's blind.

copyright 2007 Andy Griffin


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3) Events

Strawberry U-Picks Every Saturday through the end of August!
Come pick your own berries at High Ground Organics, Saturdays 10 am to 1 pm, for the rest of July and August. U-pick berries are $1.20/lb. Check in at the Redman House Farmstand first to pick up your empty flat(s). Directions: From Hwy 1, take the Watsonville Riverside Drive (Hwy 129) exit. Go west off the exit (toward the ocean). Turn right at the stop sign at Lee Rd. Pass the Chevron stations and turn into the farmstand parking area.


August 5th Open Space Alliance and High Ground Organics Dinner in Watsonville at the Farm:


August 25th: Tomato Upick at Mariquita Farm in Hollister in the morning: 8am - 12 noon. We know we'll have plenty of tomatoes by then. We will have many more upick days in Sept and likely October. We will also have a Padron Pepper upick day once Andy is sure the patch is prolific enough to make it worth your while! Stay tuned.
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4) Photos:

Fennel

Rosemary

Onions

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5) Recipes

Rosemary Serving Hints from The Edible Ornamental Garden by J. Bryan
and C. Castle

- Use rosemary to flavor cold drinks, soups, pickles, cooked meats,
omelets, egg casserole, fish and poultry, sauces, dressing and even
preserves and jams.

- Saute chopped rosemary in butter, sprinkle with flour and add stock.
Season with lemon juice and anchovy paste and serve on fish.

- Add chopped rosemary to fresh fruit compotes, to pastry for meat pies
or to cake batter when making a traditional weding cake.

- Cook orange sections in syrup ('simple syrup is water and sugar that
have been heated together. -julia), flavor with rosemary, season with
vanilla to

taste, chill and serve with whipped cream.

- Rub veal, pork, or lamb roast with rosemary.

- Combine rosemary with butter to dress lima beans.

- Use whole sprigs with flowers for garnishing, or put them in the oven
when baking bread.

- Add sprigs to the cooking water when boiling potatoes, or cooking
chard or beans.


Beetroot Salad with Anchovy Dressing
from: Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book

julia's note: 'beetroot' is what beets are called in England, I think.
I was intrigued by this recipe because of the unusual salad dressing.
I'm a big fan of vegetable salads, our dinner table often has a
traditional lettuce salad and also a beet or potato or turnip or fennel or
celery etc. salad. I love make ahead dinner items, and vegetable-rich ones
are an extra bonus.

1 pound boiled, peeled beetroot
1/2 pound boiled firm or waxy potatoes
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
chopped parsley

Dressing:
2 medium onions, chopped
4 Tablespoons oil
1 tin anchovies in oil
1 teaspoon wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon (or a bit more?) Dijon mustard
pepper

Slice beets and put into a shallow bowl. Peel and slice the potatoes
into half-circles and arrange them in a ring round the edge, slipping the
straight edge down between the beets and the edge of the bowl. Mash
the eggs to crumbs with a fork, mix them with a heaped tablespoon of
parsley and set aside.

For the dressing, cook the onions in a tablespoon of oil in a small
covered pan, so that they become soft without browning. Cool and pound
with the anchovies, their oil and the remining ingredients (use a blender
if possible). Adjust the seasonings (this usually means add S & P to
taste). Spread dressing evenly over the beets. Scatter the egg on top
with extra parsley if neccessary. Serve chilled.


Fennel Baked with Parmesan Cheese
from: Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book

Jane Grigson's note about this recipe: My favourite fennel dish, the
best one of all by far. The simple additions of butter and parmesan - no
other cheese will do - show off the fennel flavour perfectly. The point
to watch, when the dish is in the oven, is the browning of the cheese.
Do not let it go beyond a rich golden-brown.

Julia's note: this dish can be halved or made even smaller for just two
people with one or two large heads of fennel.

6 heads fennel, trimmed, quartered
butter
pepper
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Cook the fennel in salted water until it is tender. It is important to
get this right: the fennel should not still be crisp, on the other hand
it should not be floppy either. Drain it well and arrange in a
generously buttered gratin dish. Be generous, too, with the pepper mill.
Sprinkle on the cheese. Put into the oven at 400 degrees, until the cheese
is golden brown and the fennel is bubbling vigorously in buttery juices.


Recipe Links:

Beets

Fennel

Onions

Potatoes

Rosemary

Salad Dressings

Strawberries

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6) Which Farm?

>From High Ground: Strawberries, salad mix, fennel, green onions,
Flowers. From Mariquita: potatoes, rosemary, beets, red onions, mystery

_______________________________________________________________________

7) Unsubscribe/Subscribe From/To This Newsletter

BLOG ADVANTAGES: I can change mistakes after I post them. I don't have
to subscribe/unsubscribe folks. Old newsletters easily accessed.
Links! (I send this newsletter out as plain text so more folks with
differently-abled computer systems can easily read it.) You can sign up for
email updates to the Two Small Farms Blog on the main blog page:
http://twosmallfarms.blogspot.com/

_______________________________________________________________________

8) Two Small Farms Contact Information

Two Small Farms
Mariquita Farm/High Ground Organics
Organically Grown Vegetables
831-786-0625
P.O. Box 2065
Watsonville, CA 95077
csa@twosmallfarms.com

In The box for week of July 25th - July 27th

In this week's box is:

Scallions (also called green onions)
Potatoes
Rosemary
Strawberries
Fennel
Salad Mix
Summer Squash
Red Onions (WED)
Beets (THURS & FRI)

The above photo is my celery salad, recipe is below. -julia

and 2 recipes for last week's box:

Julia's Celery Salad

I took two stalks of Stephen's celery and sliced them thin on my mandolin. Then I did the same with a small onion, but I made the onion slices even thinner. (I have the simple-to-wash-and-store Japanese Mandolin from Beriner) I also thinly sliced one yellow carrot, for color and crunch. The dark green in *my* salad was verdolagas, or purslane. If you are a gardener you might have this in your garden: the leaves are rather succulent and it worked well in this dish. If you don't have verdolagas in your garden, you could use arugula, spinach (sliced a bit), parsley leaves, or another dark leafy green for the color contrast. I dressed this with olive oil and lemon and S & P. The variations to this lettuce-free salad are endless. I mixed it all with my hands and 'plated' it before serving. A lovely salad!

Quick Couscous with Chicken Recipe

Ingredients
1 (3 pounds) chicken, cut into serving pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 onion, sliced
1 large carrot, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 ounces) peeled whole plum tomatoes, drained and chopped (about 1 pound fresh tomatoes)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground allspice
2 cups defatted chicken broth or vegetable stock, divided
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp dried red chile flakes, harissa, or other hot pepper sauce
2 small zucchini, diced
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 can (15 ounces) cooked garbanzos (chick peas), rinsed and drained
4 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided
1 Tbsp butter or margarine (optional)
1-1/2 cups quick-cooking or "instant" couscous
Harissa or liquid pepper sauce

Instructions
Rinse chicken, pat dry, and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large casserole or Dutch oven, brown chicken, and remove; add onion, carrot, and garlic and saute until softened. Add tomatoes, cumin, and allspice and cook for 5 minutes, stirring; stir in 1/2 cup chicken broth, wine, and red chile flakes and return chicken to casserole. Cover and simmer 15 minutes; add zucchini and simmer until chicken is tender (20 to 30 minutes more). Stir in tomato paste, add garbanzos and half the chopped cilantro or parsley, heat through.

While chicken is simmering, bring remaining chicken broth (and butter if you are using it) to a boil and add couscous; stir well, cover and remove from heat. Let couscous stand 5 minutes, fluff with fork, and spoon onto serving platter. Arrange chicken and vegetables around it, pour some sauce over the top, and garnish with remaining cilantro or parsley. Serve with harissa or other liquid pepper sauce.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Recipe from: The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion by Eve Zibart

Newsletter #390 April 4th, 2007

Two Small Farms Newsletter
Issue Number 390, April 4th, 2007
___________________________________________________________________________

Table of Contents:

1) In your box this week
2) A WINTER TALE ABOUT OWLS, GOATS AND GRASSLANDS AT HIGH GROUND
ORGANICS
3) Friday Route
4) Photos
5) Recipes
6) Which Farm?
7) Unsubscribe
8) Two Small Farms Contact Information
___________________________________________________________________________

1) In your box this week: Baby Carrots, Fennel, Parsley, Beets, Mushrooms, Spinach, Thyme OR Mint, Broccoli, Lacinato Kale

This week's vegetable list: I try to have it updated by Monday night, sometimes by Mon. am:

Quick notes on this week's box begins the recipe section: #5.

__________________________________________________________________________

2) A WINTER TALE ABOUT OWLS, GOATS AND GRASSLANDS AT HIGH GROUND
ORGANICS

By: Laura Kummerer/ Grassland Restorationist at High Ground Organics

On a cool January night, High Ground Organics was visited by a rarely seen, short bodied, large eyed and feathery migrant, a Burrowing Owl. Records from the Santa Cruz Bird Club show that up until the early 1990's this owl regularly visited and even nested in the uplands of the Watsonville Slough System, which is home to High Ground Organics Farm. Unfortunately,
current sightings of these owls in Watsonville have dwindled to almost none. Their decline in Watsonville is mirrored by a decline in the Western Hemisphere, placing the Burrowing Owl on the list of "National Birds of Conservation Concern". With a boon of housing developments in the few remaining grassland areas in Watsonville and across the country, the habitat that these owls depend upon for forage and nesting has shrunk down to a few small parcels of land. High Ground Organics is a steward to one of these parcels. This parcel is located on a slope that connects the farm to the wetland.

Last year we began an ambitious project to restore the ten acres of grassland under our care from a weed choked field to the thriving coastal prairie grassland it once was just 200 years ago. Our restoration methods are not quite conventional. We are re-introducing cattle and goat
grazing to the grassland to mimic the herbivory of elk and deer that grasslands evolved with. Researchers studying grasslands in coastal California have shown that with a carefully managed rotation of animals through grasslands, the native species that once thrived can return again.

As many of you know, we spent most of last year laying down the foundation for the restoration project. We pulled upon the expertise of local range land managers and ecologists, collected baseline vegetation and soils data, gathered and grew up seed from nearby native grasses and built a fence to contain a herd of goats and cows. This winter, as the first rains began to fall, we put our idealistic plans for the project in to practice.

At the end of November we began our rotational grazing with a herd of goats and now have mixed the herd with cows. We have been carefully moving the herd through one acre paddocks to control the proliferation of weeds that are choking out the islands of native grasses, rushes, sedges and wildflowers. In just a short time the animals have transformed the landscape. Early in the season, they ate down the 6 foot stalks of old thistle and radish clearing space away for the germination of new seedlings. Now, they are devouring the invasive grasses that have been crowding out the native California Oat Grass (Danthonia californica) and shading out the
endangered Santa Cruz Sunflower (Holocarpha macradenia).

Like all processes of transformation, the grazing has its downsides. Although the animals are doing a great job of removing the weeds, they have also had some negative impacts on the native plants we are working to restore. In the early winter before the annual grasses had gained their stature, the goats devoured the native California Oat grass like it was an ice cream treat. With thoughtful cross fencing and continually reminding ourselves that native grasses have thrived for thousands of years with grazing, we continue on.

In conjunction with the rotational grazing program, we are working to replenish a local stock of native grass and wildflower seed, by creating permanent seed harvest beds on the farm. This past spring, we collected seed from the four main grassland species growing in small pockets
throughout the Watsonville Sloughs. We grew this seed up in the greenhouse through the winter and planted seedlings in to the permanent beds. The well tended beds are in their full glory right now, adorned with fresh and wispy flower heads. In about a month we hope to collect about 20 pounds. of seed from these beautiful plants. This seed will then be infused into
degraded parts of the grassland on a yearly basis. As the years unfold, we plan to maintain our seed beds and augment them with rhizome producing grass species and a myriad of annual wildflower species. In time, the re-introduction of large quantities of seed into the degraded grassland coupled with the grazing for weed control will create a healthy and diverse grassland
community. My deepest hope is that this grassland will not only provide habitat for the Burrowing Owl, but for a diverse array of rare and endangered plants and animals that depend on open grassland for their very survival.

As you can see, this project is a long term endeavor. It has come to life with a whole lot of community support and will require the patience and commitment of many hands and hearts now and in to the future. In closing, I'd like to recognize the incredible amount of hands that have carried the project this far. We have received funds from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, The Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation District, and the Open Space Alliance. The perimeter fence for the grazing was raised with the good humor, creative minds and strong backs of Noe Reyes, Edilberto Cruz, Uriel Toledo, Aurelio Lopez, Ken Moore, Jerry and Patrick Thomas, Tom Schroeder and Freddy Menge and Ellen Baker. Billy and Laura Noblin have been lending a hand with whatever detail needs tending from seed collection to electric fence maintenance. Mariquita Farm has once again formed an integral partnership with us, by providing a well cared for and sweet herd of goats to work their magic. Rochelle and Marcel Beerli, the landowners of Mariquita's Hollister farm, have generously lent us their horse
trailer giving us the ability to move goats whenever we need to.

In the months to come we will need many more hands to assist with weeding, collecting seed, tending goats, working in the greenhouse, monitoring and just enjoying the grassland. I will put monthly announcements in the newsletter for Saturday volunteer events. I can also use help during the week for regular grassland maintenance projects. Call Laura Kummerer at
(831) 761-8694 if you'd like to get involved or learn more about this project.

GRASSLAND RESTORATION EVENT:
Come join us for seed collection and grassland tending on SATURDAY May 5th, from 10am-1pm. Families with children are welcome. Contact Laura Kummerer (831)761-8694 for details.

__________________________________________________________________________


3) NEW FRIDAY ROUTE!
We have several new sites and more to come for Friday delivery:
Mountain View 2: San Pierre Way- near intersection of West Middlefield Road and North Shoreline Blvd., 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

West Menlo Park - near the Alameda and Valparaiso Avenue, 11 a.m. to 7p.m.

Menlo Park Coleman - on Coleman Avenue near the intersection with Willow Road, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Palo Alto Bryant Street - intersects with Embarcadero Road. Near Town and Country Village., 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Palo Alto Cornell Street - (starts April 20th!) near Stanford's Escondido Village, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

If you are a member in the Los Altos, Los Gatos or Cupertino/Santa
Clara/Saratoga areas, and have interest in being a host, please let us
know.

___________________________________________________________________________

4) Photos:

Baby Carrots

Fennel

Red Beets

Italian Parsley

Lacinato Kale

Thyme

Mint

_______________________________________________________________________

5) Recipes from Julia

first notes on some of the vegetables:

BABY CARROTS: just eat them! They of course work for any cooking whole side dish thing too.

MINT or THYME: you will get one or the other of these. If you get mint and know what to do with it: Great! If you're not sure, click here for a photo essay of the best mint tea ever. Just steep fresh mint in boiling water: it has a different taste from the dried mint tea. Thyme: this is an all around great flavoring in so many savory dishes.

FENNEL: This can be used anywhere celery is (just about. My kids balk at the idea of fennel and peanutbutter in their lunches. Oh well.) If your family isn't excited about the taste of freshly chopped fennel in their salads you can cook it and the fennel anise taste is so far in the background noone will notice! I often saute fennel with my onions in a red spaghetti sauce.....

BEETS: eat the greens in the first day or two. You can use them anyway you use/eat chard, they are very closely related. You can also cook them up with the kale. The beets themselves? Try them grated raw in a pink salad (raw they will turn everything pink in their wake!) Or roast them then dress with olive oil, feta cheese and chopped onion with some parsley for color, a
great make ahead salad!

KALE: this is my favorite kind of kale: and it's dark dark leafy greens make it one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. And it tastes good, especially with garlic.

SPINACH: this is Stephen's excellent, trustworthy spinach. Eat it
confidently in salads and cooked dishes. Enjoy!

MUSHROOMS: these are grown organically at our neighbor's mushroom farm in Watsonville. They are great in most recipes where the button mushrooms are called for.

The Recipes!

SPINACH FENNEL SOUP

2 pounds fennel bulb (sometimes called anise), chopped (about 5 cups)
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
3/4 pound spinach (about 1 bunch), coarse stems discarded and the
leaves
washed well and drained

In a heavy kettle cook the fennel bulb and the onion in the oil, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, add the broth, the water, and the fennel seeds, and simmer the mixture, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the fennel bulb is tender. Stir in the
spinach and simmer the soup for 1 minute, or until the spinach is wilted. In a blender or food processor puree the soup in batches. The soup may be served hot or chilled.

Makes about 8 cups, serving 6 to 8.

Gourmet May 1993

SPINACH, FENNEL AND FETA SALAD

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice1 large shallot, minced
1 6-ounce package baby spinach leaves
1 large fennel bulb, trimmed, quartered lengthwise, cored, thinly
sliced
crosswise
1 bunch radishes, sliced
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Whisk oil, lemon juice and shallot in small bowl to blend. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Combine spinach, fennel and radishes in large shallow bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Sprinkle feta cheese over salad and serve.

Serves 4.

Bon Appetit

BABY SPINACH AND MINT SALAD WITH BLACK-EYED PEAS
Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 30 min

1 cup frozen black-eyed peas
1 cup water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
5 oz baby spinach
1 cup loosely packed fresh mint, stems removed

Special equipment: an electric coffee/spice grinder

Simmer peas, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a 1-quart saucepan, uncovered, over moderate heat until peas are just tender, about 15 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water, then spread peas out on a paper towel and pat dry.

Grind fennel seeds with cayenne and black pepper to a powder in grinder, then transfer to a small bowl. Add peas to spice mixture and toss to coat. Whisk together juices, broth, honey, oil, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and add spinach and mint, tossing to coat. Serve salad sprinkled with spiced peas. Each serving contains about 89 calories and 2 grams fat. Makes 4 servings.

Gourmet September 2002

Ribollita

This is a little like a winter minestrone, and you can use whatever you have in your fridge to make it. You can skip the first dried bean step and use two cans of white beans. This is a simple, satisfying soup that can and should be adapted to what you have on hand when making it. (other vegetables, other colors of beans, etc.)

2/3 cup dried Great Northern beans
10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 large russet potato or turnip, peeled, sliced
2 large carrots, peeled, sliced or grated
1 red or other onion, sliced
1 bunch kale or chard, stems and ribs removed, leaves sliced (the lacinato kale leaves have lots less ribs, I often just slice the whole thing. -j)
4 ounces savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk or small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1 4-ounce slice pancetta or bacon
10 cups (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth

Place Great Northern beans in large saucepan. Add enough cold water to cover beans by 3 inches; let soak overnight. Drain. Return to saucepan. Add enough fresh cold water to cover beans by 3 inches. Simmer until beans are tender, about 1 hour.

Drain beans. (rinse if using cans) Puree 1 cup beans in processor. Set aside pureed beans and whole beans. Heat 4 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and parsley; saute 3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Add remaining vegetables and pancetta; saute 3 minutes. Add 10 cups chicken broth, pureed beans and whole beans. Cover; simmer until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt and
pepper. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold. Cover; chill overnight. Bring soup to simmer. Remove pancetta. Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle remaining oil over soup and serve.

Makes 10 servings. Bon Appetit May 2000

Shaved Fennel with Parmesan
adapted from Healthy 1-2-3 by Rozanne Gold

1 large or 2 medium fennel bulbs
3 Tablespoons white balsamic or sherry or champagne vinegar
3 ounce piece Parmigiano-Reggiano

Trim the feathery fronds from teh fennel bulb and set aside. Remove any brown pots and trim root end. Slice fennel as thinly as possible, cutting through the root end. Place in a bowl.

Add vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Break cheese into very small pieces and add to salad. Toss again. Let sit for 1 hour before serving. Scatter finely chopped fennel fronds on top. (or parsley, if you're not offended to add a 4th ingredient! she doesn't count S & P as part of
the 1-2-3 -julia) serves 4

This week's Cookbook from the Library: Healthy 1-2-3 by Rozanne Gold

I admit I was dubious about a cookbook where each recipe only has three ingredients. (Salt and Pepper don't count.) But I like this cookbook because it *is* simple, and it uses good ingredients. (It's not one of those "take-one-box-of-cake-mix and then..." cookbooks.) I can also start with her ideas and add to them. Another recipe I'd like to try is the 'beet 'carpaccio' with lemony tonnato sauce. Your public library might have it! Hint: most/all public libraries let you request books online. Mine then sends me an email when the desired book is available.

Pickled Fennel with Orange from The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich
(Julia suggests using these on a sandwich, on a cheese board/cracker
platter, or tossed in a green salad.)

2 fennel bulbs, sliced thin
1 t pickling salt (kosher or other uniodized salt) zest from ½ an
orange, in
strips
1 or 2 small fennel fronds (optional)
6 T white wine vinegar
6 T orange juice
1 T sugar
4 black peppercorns, cracked

In a bowl, toss the fennel slices with the salt. Let them stand 1 hour. Drain the fennel slices, and toss them with the orange zest. Pack gthem into a pint jar, placing a fennel frond or two against the side of the jar, if you like. In a saucepan, heat hte vinegar, orange juice, sugar, and
peppercorns to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the hot liquid over the fennel. Cap the jar, and let cool to room temp. Store the pickle in the fridge . It will be ready to eat ina day or two, and will keep for at least several weeks.

Shaved Fennel Salad with Almonds and Mint

Though you can serve it immediately, this salad is best if it stands an hour before being served. To get the thinnest slices from your fennel bulb, quarter it before slicing to create more manageable sections that lie flat on the cutting board.

3 1/2 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb (about 1 medium bulb)
1 cup thinly vertically sliced red onion
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh mint
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons extravirgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; toss well to combine. Let
stand at room temperature 1 hour. Sprinkle with nuts.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1/3 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 46 (51% from fat); FAT 2.6g (sat 0.3g, mono 1.7g, poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 1.2g; CARB 5.4g; FIBER 1.8g; CHOL 0.0mg; IRON 0.4mg; SODIUM 217mg; CALC 31mg;
Cooking Light, MAY 2004

FENNEL AND OLIVE SALAD
Best of Southern Italian Cooking, J.C. Grasso

2 heads fennel
1 tbsp. parsley
1 tbsp. wine vinegar
1 tsp. oregano
24 green olives
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic
pepper

Cut fennel bulb into chunks, combine with olives in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together all other ingredients. Toss with the fennel and olives.

SOME FENNEL IDEAS from The Victory Garden Cookbook

Sprinkle chopped fennel leaves on hot baked oysters or clams.
Add cooked fennel to omelets, quiches, stuffings or sauces.
Add stalks to stocks for their flavor.
Add sliced sauteed fennel to fish chowders.
Cook fennel in your favorite tomato sauce.
Place stalks and leaves on barbeque coals as they do in France. The fennel scent permeates the grilled food.
Slice steamed or blanched fennel, cover with a vinaigrette and serve chilled.
Chop raw fennel and add to tuna fish sandwiches.
Slice fennel thin and layer with raw potatoes, cream and cheese to make a potato au gratin.

Fennel and Cheese for Dessert
adapted from The Victory Garden Cookbook
by M. Morash

Fennel bulbs
One great cheese, such as blue cheese or a local goat cheese
best olive oil
S & P

Wash and trim fennel bulbs. If small, cut in half; quarter larger ones. Serve with slices of cheese and pass the oil, salt, and pepper.

TAGLIATELLE WITH SHREDDED BEETS, SOUR CREAM, AND PARSLEY

1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups (packed) coarsely grated peeled uncooked beets (about 3 large)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
12 ounces tagliatelle or fettuccine
1 8-ounce container sour cream
6 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley, divided

Melt butter with oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic; stir until pale golden, about 1 minute. Add beets and cayenne; reduce heat to medium-low and saute just until beets are tender, about 12 minutes. Stir in lemon juice.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Stir in sour cream and 4 tablespoons parsley, then beet mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer pasta to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons parsley and serve.

Test-kitchen tip: Surgical gloves (sold at drugstores) are ideal for protecting hands from staining when working with beets. Regular kitchen gloves work well, too, but they are a little more cumbersome.

Makes 6 first-course or 4 main-course servings.

Bon Appetit
April 2004

BEET AND PARSLEY SALAD
Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 25 min

2 medium beets without greens
1 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Special equipment: a Japanese Benriner or other adjustable-blade slicer

Trim and peel raw beets, then cut into very thin slices (1/16 inch thick) with slicer. Make small stacks of slices and cut each stack with a sharp knife into very thin strips (1/16 inch thick).

Toss beets with parsley, salt, sugar, and pepper in a serving bowl until sugar is dissolved. Add oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle vinegar on salad and toss again. Serve immediately.

Each serving conatains about 63 calories and 3 grams fat.

Makes 4 servings.

Gourmet


* For traditional pickled beets, boil a vinegar/sugar mixture (use a cup of vinegar and 1/2 cup of sugar for each pound of beets). Add a pinch of cloves and allspice or chopped fresh dill, if desired. Add sliced, cooked beets to water and bring to a boil again. Serve warm, or pour the mixture into sterile canning jars and seal.

* Peel raw beets and grate them over the top of a salad for a nice color/texture addition

* Pure 2 cups cooked beets with 2 tablespoons orange juice and a few pinches of spice (cinnamon, ginger and cloves work well) for a colorful and low-cal alternative to mashed potatoes.

* Roast a multi-colored assortment of beets, then peel, slice and toss with a vinegar/oil dressing for a colorful stand-alone salad. If desired, steam the greens with a touch of lemon juice or vinegar and serve the salad on top of them.

* For a dense, moist, flavorful sweet bread, use beets instead of zucchini. Combine 2 cups peeled, grated raw beets with 2 tablespoons canola oil, 6 egg whites, 3/4 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup maple syrup. In a separate bowl, combine 3 cups flour, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg
and ginger. Make a well in the dry ingredients and stir in beet mixture until just blended. Coat a 9-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray and bake at 350°F for 50 minutes to an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

* To make an easy borscht, peel 6 medium-sized beets and cook with 4 cups vegetable stock until tender. Remove beets from cooking liquid and slice into julienne strips or grate coarsely. Dissolve 2 tablespoons of sugar in 4 tablespoons of lemon juice. Add sugar mixture and prepared beets to stock; chill. Top each serving with nonfat yogurt or sour cream, if desired.

beet fennel ginger soup
serves 4

* 2 1/2 cup vegetable broth, reduced-sodium
* 1/4 head savoy cabbage, chopped
* 3/4 cup beets, about 1 large beet, peeled and chopped
* 1/2 medium fennel bulb(s), trimmed and chopped
* 1 medium garlic clove(s), minced
* 1 tsp ginger root, fresh, minced
* 1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 tsp table salt
* 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
* 4 Tbsp plain fat-free yogurt

Instructions

* Combine the broth, cabbage, beet, fennel, garlic and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered until the beet is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

* Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and puree, working in batches if necessary to avoid overflows. Pour the soup into large bowl.

* Season with the lemon juice, salt and pepper. If necessary, thin the soup with enough cold water to reach a pourable consistency.

* Refrigerate, covered, until chilled, 3-4 hours or overnight. Serve,
topped with the yogurt.

Roasted beet salad serves 4; 2 points

* 2 pound beets, stems and roots removed
* 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar* 2 tsp vegetable oil
* 1 tsp Dijon mustard
* 1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
* 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
* 1 Tbsp fresh oregano

Instructions

* Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Place beets on foil-lined baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes or until tender.

* Allow to cool, then peel and slice. Place in bowl.

* In food processor, combine vinegar, oil, mustard, salt and pepper. Process 1 minute. Pour over beets and toss to coat. Sprinkle with oregano and serve.





Honeyed Beet Quinoa Summer Salad, with variations from Fresh from the Farm and Garden by The Friends of the UCSC Farm and Garden

julia's note: I make many variations of this salad, with whatever vegetables/alliums/dressing I have on hand. I love using quinoa, but brown rice and couscous also work nicely. Likely other grains too. For this much salad I usually use half the amount of cheese they recommend and half
the amount of nuts. Any mixture of the below herbs work well: just parsley, just
cilantro, just basil, or any combo... chives, tarragon for a different flavor..... the possibilities are endless and having a salad like this on hand makes healthy lunches/dinners much easier.

6 beets, roasted
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cups orange juice
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup fruity olive oil
3 cups cooked quinoa, or another grain such as brown rice or couscous
1 cup crumbled feta cheese, or shredded parmesan, or??, optional
1 cup toasted walnuts or almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped basil OR cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsley
6 minced green onions or 3 shallots or other mild allium
lettuce greens, ready for eating as salad

Dice roasted beets and marinate in orange and lemon juice and honey at least one hour. (Julia's note: I warm up my honey a bit before mixing it in the juices/oil... but don't make it too hot or it will 'cook' the juice and fruity oil!)

Combine with other ingredients except salad greens. Chill at least one hour to allow flavors to blend. Serve on bed of salad greens.

Roasted Beets with Walnuts and Blue Cheese from California Home Cooking
by Michele Anna Jordan

1 pound small beets, golden, white or chioggia (or red!)
1 T olive oil
½ cup walnuts, toasted
2 T extra virgin olive oil

preheat oven to 350 degrees

Wash and trim beets but do not peel them. Toss them with the olive oil in a bowl, and transfer them to a baking sheet. Roast them until they are tender when pierced with a fork, 40 to 90 minutes, depending on their size. Remove the beets from the oven and set them aside until they are cool enough to handle. Using your fingers, remove and discard the beet skins. Cut the
beets into wedges, and place the wedges in a small serving bowl. Add the walnuts and extra virgin olive oil, toss ad several turns of pepper (from a pepper mill), and toss again. Scatter the blue cheese over the beets, and serve.

Rochelle's Beet Salad
We love it, it's fast, easy and healthy.

I just threw it together, so it's a simple one. trim ends off beets, then steam until soft rinse with cold water, so that the skin peels right off. dice up, mix with thinly sliced onions, (red, white or yellow), add crumbled crostini, and plenty of balsamic vinegar, salt/pepper to taste with a dash
of extra virgin olive oil. Toss, EAT.

NORWEGIAN BEET SALAD
Sunset Magazine

1 beet
1 apple
1 carrot
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. minced ginger
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt
Peel and shred the beet, apple and carrot. Combine in a bowl. Add nuts, coconut, lemon juice, ginger and oil. Stir and salt to taste.

Chocolate Beet Brownies
from: http://www.plantea.com/chocolatebeetbrownies.htm
These brownies are rich, chewy and secretly nutritious!

1/2 cup butter (or 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce)
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
4 eggs
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 cup applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 15 oz. can beets packed in water, drained and mashed; or 1 cup cooked
beets
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Set aside to cool. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until light in color and foamy. Add sugar and vanilla and continue beating until well creamed. Stir in chocolate mixture, followed by applesauce and beets. Sift together flour, salt, spices and baking
powder and stir into creamed mixture. Fold in wheat germ and almonds. Turn into greased 9x13-inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool before cutting into squares.

Recipe Index
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6) Which Farm?

>From High Ground: spinach and flowers
>From Mariquita: Carrots, Thyme, Mint, Parsley, Beets, Fennel, Kale
Far West Fungi: Mushrooms, all organic!
>From Lakeside Organic Gardens: broccoli and lettuce

Where is High Ground's produce?? Stephen has lots coming on, he's thin on vegetables ready for harvest right now because of winter planting conditions. yes, strawberries are coming! -julia

To see a picture of the 2 farm families

__________________________________________________________________________

7) Unsubscribe/Subscribe From/To This Newsletter
__________________________________________________________________________

8) Two Small Farms Contact Information

Two Small Farms
Mariquita Farm/High Ground Organics
Organically Grown Vegetables
831-786-0625
P.O. Box 2065
Watsonville, CA 95077
csa@twosmallfarms.com
http://www.twosmallfarms.com
http://www.mariquita.com
http://www.highgroundorganics.com