Hello from the farm.
This year just seems to be breezing by! You might be wondering for how much longer your farm share boxes are coming. We go right till the end of October- so that’s 5 more weeks including this one if you have a weekly share.
This week we have sweet peppers in the half and whole shares. These were in plenty last year but were planted in a far off field and got neglected until later in the season. Thankfully, with some rain and weeding, they are finally doing some producing! Also, we have eggplant this week. This one may not be on your regular rotation, but with a little knowledge and a great recipe, eggplant can be quite tasty and hearty.
Have you tried Eggplant Parmesan?
It’s a tasty, hearty italian meal something like lasagna. (from food.com)
Ingredients
- 1 medium eggplant (about 1lbs), cut into 1/2 inch thick round slices
- kosher salt, as needed, plus 1/2 tablespoon
- 2.5 cups fresh breadcrumbs
- 1/2 tbsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tbsp. dried thyme
- freshly ground black pepper
- vegetable oil for frying
- all purpose flour for dredging
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tbsp. whole milk
- olive oil, as needed
- 3.5 cups marinara sauce
- 1/3 grated parmesan, divided
- 1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
Directions
- Arrange the eggplant slices on several baking sheets and sprinkle generously all over with kosher salt. Set aside to let the bitter juices weep from the eggplant, about 1 hour.
- Transfer the eggplant to a colander in the sink, and rinse well under cold running water. Transfer eggplant to a work surface and blot very dry with paper towels.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, breadcrumbs, oregano, thyme, and season with pepper.
- Place the flour in a medium lipped plate or bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. Dredge an eggplant slice in the flour, then dip it in the egg, and finally dredge it in the breadcrumb mixture. Shake off any excess breading and transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.
- In a large straight-sided skillet, pour the oil to a depth of 1/2 inch. Heat the oil over medium heat until it registers 400 degrees F on a deep frying thermometer. (The oil must be heated to 400 degrees F. so that the breaded eggplant, when added, will drop the temperature of the oil to the proper frying temperature of 375 degrees F.)
- Working in small batches, fry the eggplant slices, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and season with salt to taste. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly brush a 15 x 10- x 2-inch-baking dish with olive oil. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with 1/3 of the marinara sauce and arrange half of the eggplant over the sauce. Cover the eggplant with another 1/3 of the sauce. Scatter half of the Parmesan and half of the mozzarella over the sauced eggplant. Repeat with the remaining eggplant, sauce, Parmesan, and mozzarella. Bake until hot and just beginning to brown, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.
It’s Comfort Food Season!
Potatoes are coming next week (since it rained like the dickens today). One of the comfort foods I had been craving is
Jenny’s Instant Pot Beef Stew!
Perfect for any root veggies you have on hand, like carrots, turnips, rutabaga, and beets and aromatics like celery, garlic and onions. Plus, it’s so easy and tasty! Feel free to adjust with the ingredients you have around. No instant pot? You can use a regular ol pot too, but you might want to let it simmer for a good hour or more to let the flavour build.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4lb stew beef chunks or steak cut into cubes (lower grade steaks work fine)
- 2 tbsp. cooking oil
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch
- a few stalks celery, chopped into small chunks
- small onion, chopped into small chunks
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped
- 6 potatoes, washed and chopped
- 1 large turnip, peeled and chopped
- 6 small carrots, scrubbed and chopped (no need to peel fresh organic carrots)
- 2/3 carton of beef broth
- a few bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
Directions
- Heat oil in an instant pot. Add stew beef chunks and toss in cornstarch right in the pot. Turn meat as it cooks to brown all sides. Add aromatics like celery, garlic and onion, and sautee another 3-4 mins or until fragrant.
- Add beef broth and continue to heat, scraping bottom of pot to make sure nothing is sticking. Add all other veggies and spices. Cover with lid and set to seal. Put on “meat stew” setting or pressure cook for 35 minutes.
Enjoy!
In your Shares this week:
Simply 6
- bunch or bag carrots
- tomatoes (could be grape, cherry, or field)
- 1lb baby bokchoy
- 1 head lettuce
- cucumbers
- celery
Half
- bunch or bag carrots
- tomatoes (could be grape, cherry, or field)
- 1lb baby bokchoy
- 1 head lettuce
- cucumbers
- celery
- sweet peppers (red, green and/or orange)
- bunch mint
- 1lb eggplant
- bunch radish
Whole
- bunch or bag carrots
- tomatoes (could be grape, cherry, or field)
- 1lb baby bokchoy
- 1 head lettuce
- cucumbers
- celery
- sweet peppers (red, green and/or orange)
- bunch mint
- 1lb eggplant
- bunch radish
- 3 cobs sweet corn
- bag green beans
- bunch dandelion greens
- pint ground cherries
- 2nd tomatoes
- cantaloupe or alternate item
- bunch yellow onions
Fruit
- 6 bc gala apples
- 2lbs bc nectarines
- bag of Ontario cranberries (here’s a HUGE list of recipe ideas if you don’t want to just save them for Thanksgiving dinner 50 Things to Make with Cranberries | Recipes, Dinners and Easy Meal Ideas | Food Network)
- bunch of bananas
- 2 mangos or 1.5lbs bc plums
Enjoy and as a very dear Farm Share member would say,
Be Whole.