Kitchen Garden Journal

The End of the Season

The end of the season is always a slightly melancholy time. Fields and beds are cleared out and there's no new planting to replace them. Plants that have yielded faithfully slow their pace. Gone is the time for lush, exuberant growth. There is a perceptible turning inward as the plants begin to horde their energy and attempt, foolishly, to wait it out, looking more ragged with each successive frost. One by one the last tasks of the season are completed: spent crops harrowed in, fields seeded to rye, irrigation put away, garlic divided into cloves and planted for the following year.   

Then there's the nagging dread of the end of the abundance and inevitable return to the supermarket. Nostalgia for summer sets in as you remember that you never got around to making that raspberry tart. July and August are such a whirlwind that it's simply impossible to take full advantage of the wealth around you. And then it's gone. 22 short weeks--the New England summer a blast of fecundity rivaled in its sweetness only by its brevity. Now we, too, must turn inward, and wait it out. 

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• 1 lb Broccoli
  1 bunch Tuscan Kale (Enterprise Farm)
  1 bunch Hakurei Turnips
  1 bunch Yellow Carrots
  2 lbs Yellow Onions
  1 Red Leaf Lettuce
  1/2 lb Spinach
  1 1/2 lbs Bok Choy
  2 lbs Mixed Heirloom Apples: Northern Spy, Baldwin, Davey, Greening (Clarkdale Fruit Farms)

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This recipe is adapted from Cooking by Hand by Paul Bertolli. We have a little Italian hand-crank mill or mulino we like to use to make flour from buckwheat groats. This recipe serves 8 so feel free to cut it in half.

• 2/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups extra-fancy semolina flour
• 2 eggs
• 5 teaspoons salt
• 2 large or three medium boiling potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 -inch thick
• 1/2 large head savoy cabbage, separated and torn into pieces
• 7 tablespoons butter
• 8 to 10 sage leaves
• 1 garlic clove, chopped fine
• 1 cup grated Fontina val d'Aosta cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Place the buckwheat flour and semolina in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the eggs and one-fourth cup plus 2 tablespoons water. Use a fork to stir the mixture together. When the dough begins to form a shaggy mass, alternately squeeze and press it with the palm of your hand. Press any loose bits of flour into the dough. If it is too dry, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together. When the dough feels tacky and the flour is fully incorporated, transfer it to a clean, lightly floured surface and knead for 4 tor 5 minutes, or until it loses its surface moisture, is a uniform color and springs back when pressed. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour before rolling.

2. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick, then cut it into wide strips 6 inches long.

3. Heat the broiler.

4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the salt. Add the potatoes to the boiling water, then after 2 minutes, add the cabbage. Boil the vegetables for about 5 minutes, or until the cabbage is tender but not soft. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon and keep the water boiling.

5. Meanwhile, place a wide sauté pan over medium heat; add the butter, sage leaves and garlic. Lower the heat so the garlic does not brown, and swirl the pan a couple of times so the butter melts and the flavors merge. Remove from the heat and keep warm.

6. Cook the pasta in the same water as the vegetables to al dente, about 4 minutes; drain well and add to the sauté pan. Over low heat, stir to coat with the butter mixture. Remove from the heat.

7. Butter a 10-inch gratin or baking dish and assemble by layering one-third of the pasta, vegetables and cheeses. Repeat, until all the pasta, vegetables and cheeses are used. Place the gratin under the broiler for 2 to 4 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Serve at once.

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We have lined up most of our pick-up points for next year's farm share. Tuesday pick-up will be available at our stall at the "Springfield at the X" farmers' market in the Forest Park section of Springfield. In Northampton, you can also pick it up at River Valley Market on Tuesdays. Friday pick-up will be in Amherst at Wheatberry bakery. We are trying to work out a Greenfield point for Friday as well. Let us know if you have any suggestions.

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• 1 head Broccoli
• 2 lbs Golden Potatoes
• 2 lbs Carrots
• 1 lb Purple Top Turnips
• 1 bunch Leeks
• 1 bulb Fennel
• 1 bunch Dill
• 1 bunch Collard Greens
• 2 heads Lettuce
• 1 1/2 lbs Macoun Apples (Clarkdale Fruit Farms)
• 1 Pie Pumpkin (Atlas Farm)

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• 2 lbs lamb stew meat
• Vegetable oil
• Carrots, potatoes, turnips, onions
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• Pinch of cinnamon & red pepper
• 3-4 cups water or beef stock

Cut the vegetables into large (2-3”) chunks or wedges. Brown the meat in the oil over medium-high heat in a heavy Dutch oven or stew pot. When brown on all sides, remove from pan and set aside. Sauté the vegetables in the fat that remains for about 5 minutes.  Add the meat and spices and continue to sauté for another minute or so, then add the broth or water and simmer gently for 1 1/2-2 hours, until the meat can be cut with a fork (or bake at 325 degrees for the same amount of time).  Stir gently as to not break the vegetable pieces.  Serve hot with couscous.

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This is a simple soup eaten daily in Portugal in infinite versions. There seems to be a Cape Cod Portuguese-American version as that contains beans and a different type of sausage, linguiça. Either way, the combination of rich potato broth, deep hearty greens and salty pork is perfect for those cold rainy fall nights. Try it with a wine from the Douro region!

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in 1" chunks
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock
• 1-2 bunches kale, collards, or 1/2 savoy cabbage
• Thin slices or small chunks of dry sausage such as chorizo or sopressata (optional)

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 25-30 minutes or until potatoes break apart. Puree the soup with an immersion blender, food mill, or some other way. Return to the pan. Wash and remove the tough stems from the kale or collards and stack the leaves on top of one another.  Roll them up like a cigar and slice into very fine shreds. (They use a meat grinder-like machine for this at markets in Portugal so you can buy it pre-shredded. It looks kind of like grass clippings.) Add kale to simmering potato broth and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Serve hot in bowls garnished with the sliced sausage and a thread of high quality olive oil.

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• For the Latkes
• 1 small onion
• 3 potatoes
• 3 Tbsp flour or matzoh meal
• 2 eggs
• ¼ tsp salt
• Pepper (to taste)
• ½ to 1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Peel the potatoes and grate into a bowl. Grate in onion and combine. Beat the eggs well and add to the mixture. Add the flour, salt and pepper and set aside.

Heat the oil in a deep-sided skillet until very hot, but not burning. Drop about one heaping tablespoon of the mixture carefully into the oil. As the latkes begin to fry, take the back of the spoon and flatten them slightly into “silver dollar” shapes. Turn them once or twice, so that each side fries until it is a golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain onto to a paper towel. Serve hot, with dollops of applesauce and sour cream.

• For the Applesauce
• 6-8 large apples, quartered, cored, and diced (do not peel)
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon or 2-3 cinnamon sticks
• ¼ tsp nutmeg

In a large pot, mix ingredients together, cover, and cook over low heat until apples are very soft, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks, if using. Cool and press mixture through a food mill or sieve to remove peel. The sauce will be a beautiful pink color.

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This was the first year of our C.S.A. and in many ways it has been a challenging one (all that rain, the birth of our son in the midst of the season, coordinating with our delivery service). But we are still standing and feeling very positive about the farm, the share, and the variety and quality of produce that we have been able to provide for our customers.

Next season our shares will be available for pickup at 5 different locations (Springfield, Northampton, Amherst, Sunderland (at the farm), and Greenfield), so as to both bring the share closer to our customers and reduce the costs associated with making so many home deliveries. We will not be working with Valley Green Feast in 2010. We will continue to provide the home-delivery service ourselves for an additional fee. Details about the 2010 share and information about how to enroll are now available on the C.S.A. Details page.

We would like to thank all of our members for their support during this first year of our C.S.A. As a thank you to our dedicated members and as an incentive to rejoin for 2010, the first 20 people to sign up by October 31, 2009 will receive a free Kitchen Garden T-Shirt featuring the logo from the box in full-color. Men's shirts are available in mustard yellow and women's in grass green. Sizes run a little on the snug side. Please specify S, M, L, XL.   

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This Week's C.S.A. Share

• 1 Celeriac
  1 bunch Golden Ball Turnips w/ Greens
  1 lb Sweet Potatoes
  1 bunch Cilantro
  1 head Red Romaine Lettuce
• 1 head Frisée
  1 Tendersweet Cabbage 1 1/2 lbs Onions
• 1 lb Parsnips (Manheim Farm) 2 lbs Bosc Pears (Bashista Orchards)*

*Pears are usually picked firm: let them sit on your counter a few days until they smell ripe but are not yet soft or mushy.

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