We also got a tiny bit of garden grub this week, so let's start off with that.
3 more cayennes from the cayenne plant we refer to as "the Big Cayenne". We have three cayenne pepper plants, but one was started inside back in February and got a mighty head start on the others.
Check out this week's Danjo Farms quarter CSA share. We didn't have to get nearly as much from market after getting our CSA share, it had all sorts of needed goodies in it:
Starting from the bottom right: carrots (!!!!!), a yellow summer squash, 3 zucchini, 4 cucumbers, and 2 orange tomatoes.
And finally, this week's farmer's market haul. This ran us $32.
Starting from the bottom right: epazote (!!!!!), 2 black Hungarian peppers, 4 jalapenos, 2 gypsy sweet peppers, 2 Anaheim peppers, 6 ears of sweet corn, a pinto of yellow new potatoes, cilantro, 3 heads of green garlic from Chert Hollow Farm (one is Georgian Fire like we got last week, I cannot remember what the other two were called but it was a fairly "standard" variety in terms of flavor), Country Goodies zesty dill pickles, and 2 bunches of small, sweet red onions.
We tried the Georgian Fire garlic last week at the suggestion of Eric, from Chert Hollow. He suggested it as it was a spicier variety of garlic and we were planning on using it in Mexican food. I was a bit nervous as I know that some varieties of garlic, especially the strong ones, can have a bit of a bitter quality to them. Not this garlic, it is very, very good garlic. It is spicy, and the flavor is bold, but it is also smooth, and not bitter at all. It is even a bit creamy. We used it in both Mexican and Asian food (the Manchurian-ish Mushrooms) and we really enjoyed it. I'd like to try Georgian Fire out in refried beans, but we were only able to get one head of it this weekend and it is almost already gone. Eric informed us that the cured garlic, in all their varieties, will be available next weekend at market. I am really looking forward to that. So far, in our garlic tasting experience, our favorites are Music, Georgian Fire, and German Extra Hardy.
There is lots of good food to be made this week. Most of it will be cookbook related. Selina and I are very focused on making the cookbook a priority when we determine what we are going to make for our daily meals, so we've both been immersed in the world of Mexican. I hope to have a second cookbook teaser post up in a week or two.
I hope everyone has had a great weekend, any American's out there had a wonderful 4th of July, and everyone has a wonderful Sunday.
J's Song of the Day:
"Fever" - Kenny Burrell and Jimmy Smith
'Til next time.
9 comments:
Those orange tomatoes from your CSA look delicious! What a yummy treat :o)
I wasn't sure what to expect at the farmers market on Saturday either--I figured it would either be packed or dead, and it was mobbed! I think it was more crowded than I have ever seen it!
Sounds like you had a nice 4th with your grandparents!
Courtney
I never knew there were so many varieties of garlic! Considering how often I use it in my cooking (basically in every single dish) I think I need to do some taste-testing as well!
And I'm so jealous of your guys access to peppers! I'm lucky just to find a habanero around here, forget about scotch bonnets or more obscure varieties...
looks like you got some good stuff.
i got bunches of stuff for testing this week. i am very super excited about it.
i just wish there was one more day in the weekend. or 2.
ahhh, corn!! it makes me so happy to see it @ the farm market. everything looks so good! i have a few pepper plants that i am waiting on...your farmer's market has a ton of variety. lucky.
This week's farmer's market here in NJ brought the first hot peppers -- jalapenos, bannana and "long hots." On the garden front, I finally threw out all my seed grown tomato starts. Although I had spectacular success last year, this year they all grew about 3 leaves and then stopped advancing, never got beyond the pot. Now that there is late blight in NJ, I decided to stop messing with them and out they went. I haven't given up on my peppers yet but may soon. Meanwhile we harvest cucumbers daily.
Sounds like you had a yummy brunch. Any recommendations for lots of hot peppers but no tomatoes yet?
Courtney - They were very tasty. We had them last night on the side of another cookbook tester recipe. :-)
Ours was pretty darn packed as well. My co-worker went to market earlier than I did, between 8:15-8:30 and the peaches were already sold out, the market had barely been open a half hour!
We had a nice visit, it had been far too long since I've seen them.
T - I didn't know until I started shopping at the farmer's market a couple of years ago, and until last year, I didn't really bother trying to distinguish them, but there is such a variety of flavors out there. We use garlic and onion in almost everything we make, I am serious.
We are really lucky to have such access. We have a decent sized Mexican population here in Mid-Missouri so our regular grocery stores carry a lot of good Mexican ingredients as well, and let's not forget the Latin grocer!
You could always grow peppers yourself, they are really easy. If you have a sunny area and room for a container, you are good to go.
Selina - Oh yes, I was most excited about the chiles (big surprise?).
I can't wait to see what you test out. Mmmmmmmm. The cookbook blog makes me so hungry. :-)
Oh yes, my vote is for a three day work week, four day weekend.
Veggie Vixen - There is nothing like fresh picked sweet corn.
We are waiting on our homegrown chiles still as well so we are happy to see more and more variety cropping up at market. We are very lucky with the variety of produce we have access to.
SusanB - Awesome! You know summer has arrived when the chiles start coming in.
That is too bad about the tomatoes! Blight will really get them and get them quick. That really is a shame. Hopefully the local farmer's will be able to provide your tomato needs.
Are you peppers suffering the same fate?
At least your cukes are doing well, I bet you all are really enjoying those! I love cucumbers, raw, by themselves, with dressing, with hummus, on things, as summer pickles, you name it!
Lots of hot peppers and no tomatoes, eh? I would go with something like a jalapeno (or other hot chile) salsa, you could also do chile sauces, chile oils and vinegars (just pack chiles in a sterlized container, fill the container to the top with oil or white vinegar and put it in a cool dry place, about three weeks later you'll have your oil or vinegar. It lasts about six months), you could also do some chile based enchilada sauces.
Or, if you really want a spicy treat - if you eat dairy, stuff your hot chiles with cream cheese, garlic, onions, and cilantro - batter 'em and deep fry 'em, or you can also do the same thing but fill the chiles with a bit of rice and bean mixture seasoned up all tasty.
I also personally like to use hot chiles in fajitas along with the sweet ones, but that is just how I roll.
Yea for CSA booty! I'm sharing a friend's CSA while she's out of town next week and I'm so excited to get a mystery box!
Your other garlic variety was Siberian last week. We'll be introducing all the other cured varieties slowly, as some of the later harvests aren't ready yet. So it will be another few weeks before all 8+ varieties are on the table together. But they'll start this Saturday for sure, probably 3 varieties. Everything is out of the ground now, so fresh garlic is done.
As always, if you want to reserve a quantity let us know ahead of time.
our market was packed on the 4th as well. i totally thought there would be less people there – but it almost seemed like there may have been more! very cool on getting to spend some time with your grandparents, Jennifer! yay! family style brunch sounds delicious, especially with that tasty spread! corn on the cob is one of my favorites! those are some tasty goodies from your csa share – orange tomatoes are so good, and hooray for your cayenne peppers from the garden! w00t! i’ve never heard of epazote before! new potatoes, green garlic (my fav!) and black peppers! yummah! the fire garlic sounds amazing! we love getting local garlic at our market – it’s so much better than the store bought stuff. dan says he just can’t go back! ahahahahahahaha!
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