September 11, 2013

In Your Share

·         Melon

·         Yellow and Red Onions

·         Peppers – Green/Red and Jalapenos

·         Tomatoes- Amish Paste Roma and Rose

·         Eggplant

·         Zucchini

·         Apples

·         Pears

·         Kale

·         Basil

·         Kohlrabi

·         Parsley – whoops, we forgot the parsley, so save this recipe for next week!

Recipe

          Messy Guiseppe – Italian style Sloppy Joes (from Rachel Ray)

2 tbsp. olive oil                                                                                               ¾ c beef stock

½ tsp. red pepper flakes                                                                           3 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 lb. ground sirloin                                                                                        ¼ c fresh parsley, chopped

1 green bell pepper                                                                                      6 tbsp. butter, super soft

1 small onion                                                                                                    1 c. fresh basil

5 large garlic cloves, chopped                                                               4 individual ciabatta rolls

¼ tsp. nutmeg, coarse salt and black pepper                                ½ c  grated parmesan cheese

1 medium portobello mushroom cap                                                   1 ball fresh mozzarella, slices

½ c. red wine

To make the meat sauce,  heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the oil, red pepper, and ground beef, breaking up the meat.  Add the green pepper, onions, ¾ of the garlic, the nutmeg and a little salt and pepper to the beef and cook together.  Add the mushrooms, and cook for 5 min. more.  Add the wine and cook for 1 min.  then add the beef stock and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and gently simmer for 10 min.  Finish it by stirring in the chopped parsley.

While the meat is simmering, combine the remaining garlic, with the soft butter and chopped basil, and a little salt and pepper.  Split the rolls in half without separating.  Press open, flattening them a little.  Slather the insides with the garlic butter and toast until golden brown under the broiler.

Top one side of the toasted roll with a heap of meat, sprinkle each pile with some grated parmesan, and top that with 2 slices of mozzarella.  Transfer them to the broiler to melt the cheese. 

4 servings

What’s Happening on the Farm

Watering is still a daily activity.  The tomatoes are going crazy with this warm weather, as well as the peppers and eggplants.  The gardeners on the other hand are getting mighty tired of it!  I was able to get in the greenhouses on one of those cooler days and plant some carrots and lettuce.  The carrots have come up quite well, but the lettuce, not so well.  Could be the warm soil temperatures.  It is time to plant greenhouse spinach to winter over, but with such high temperatures the “sauna” is no fun to work in.  There will come a time when the greenhouses are a warm and cozy place to work (in the dead of winter), but right now that time is hard to imagine.

The broccoli and cabbages are finished for the season.  They are cool weather crops and can’t handle this heat anymore.  The first crop of beans are drying up and done, but we have watered the second crop and it is still flowering. 

This is the best time of the year to freeze or can some of the best tasting tomatoes.  Let us know if you would like a larger quantity – my pantry is full!