week 5

Cooking in Season
Week 5
I have two exciting things. First – Piglets! Finally. 6 of them and cute as little buttons. We had pork chops to celebrate my first success in pig husbandry. Now I just need to get my timing right.Second, this Friday we’ve gathered a small group together to travel to the equivalent of organics Mecca; the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. This is the place where they research the most cutting edge new trends in organic agriculture while still keeping with some tried and true practices that will never go out of style. This is the place where if you pick up an organic disease and pest management book, they probably wrote it. They are having a field walk on Friday and we’re all pretty excited to make a camping/road trip out there to learn as much as we can in one day of staring at dirt and plants. This might sound boring to some, but we’re really excited about staring at dirt.
Anyway, the sweet corn has tassled and is getting close to being ready for round 1 of our multiple plantings. The cherry tomatoes are turning, but they keep mysteriously disappearing on the same days my mom makes amazing marinated cucumber and mixed veggie salads. Hm, that’s weird. There’s a few little cucumbers in your baskets that are very spiny. They’re actually an edible bitter gourd appropriately named hedgehog and so slice them up and use them like a cucumber. There’s also the traditional zucchini appearing in baskets, which is pretty much a staple right about now along with some strange shaped summer squash such as patty pans, starships, and eight balls. Most of them are great on the grill or I like to scoop out the seeds of the patty pans and fill them with sausage (or very moist rice and onions for the vegetarians) and bake them for about an hour, lightly brushing them with butter so they don’t dry out.With all the summer squash rolling in and sweet corn and peppers on the way, I hope grilling out is part of your plans. It’s usually a fast way to get rid of a lot of veggies at once. The baskets are a bit scattered this week with no real universal staple for the week, just whatever’s in season. The eggplant are coming in and if you have tried eggplant and hated it before, try slicing it into half inch sections and putting it on paper towels to sweat out the bitterness. I throw a pinch of salt on there to encourage it to sweat and flip it over a couple of times to let the paper towels really absorb. And if you’re sautéing eggplant, add some water to your pan or else it will soak up your oil with a sponge. After sweating, it’s great to just throw it on the grill with an herbed butter brushed on top. Here’s a simple herbed butter recipe that you can throw on top of most any veggie that you are grilling.
Herbed ButterIngredients:1 stick unsalted butter½ cup finely chopped parsley2 Tablespoons minced onion2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice½ teaspoon minced garlic1 teaspoon salt¼ teaspoon black pepperPut in food processor and blend. It’s easier if the butter is soft. Variations include basil instead of parsley for some Italian grilling butter with a pinch of oregano. Or send me your favorite variations. Enjoy! - Janee