P I C K L I S T
TOMATOES - CUCUMBERS - PURPLE PEPPER - LIME GREEN PEPPER - HUNGARIAN HOT WAX PEPPER - SUMMER SQUASH - BASIL - CABBAGE - GARLIC SCAPES - BLUEBERRIES
EDGEWATER update: This will surely be the last of the garlic scapes until next season. Basque in their glory, it will be a full year until you meet again. That said, fresh garlic bulbs are just around the corner. We anticipate the yearly massive harvest of them this week- as long as we can enter the field without burying a tractor in wet ground. Remember, the size of your garlic bulb is determined by when the garlic scape is picked. It is likely that the bigger the garlic bulb, the earlier the scape was harvested. All things connected in these parts.
Another new harvest for us this week are the peppers in your CSA. These peppers were picked early from the plant for 2 reasons. One, they are so fresh and crunchy so why not, and two, picking off peppers before they sweeten allows the plant to produce peppers of larger size. Similar to the garlic scape harvest aiding in the size of the garlic bulb, the less peppers on a plant, the bigger the fruit. This can also be seen in your blueberry pint this week. Any extra large blueberries in there? If so, I guarantee they are the result of an excellently pruned blueberry bush. But enough about size, let's talk flavor. The smallest pepper of your bounty is a hot one, eat with care. The others are mild and are best enjoyed sliced into spears and utilized as a vehicle for all that garlic scape basil pesto you are about to make and dip into. Also noteworthy, if we left the peppers on the plant to properly ripen, the purple would ripen to sweet red and the lime to sweet-as-can-be yellow.
IN OTHER NEWS, for any of you on this quasi-harvest-while-I-listen-book-club journey with me, I just began listening to Maggie O’ Farrel’s I am, I am, I am: seventeen brushes with death. Email me, and let me know if you have also taken the journey into this memoir.
FARMY FOODIE PRO-TIPS: The following recipes were crafted specifically for this week’s CSA by our friend and hyper local chef (he lives just up the road), Mitchell Davis. if you are curious about alllll the recipes he has to offer, check out his substack:
Summer Squash Salad
Makes 4 servings
A favorite salad of mine, this recipe was given to me by my friend Tony Liu, chef of The Queensboro in NYC.
1/4 cup dried currants, raisins, or other dried fruit
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup raw pine nuts
2 medium green zucchini (about 3/4 pound)
2 medium yellow squash (about 3/4 pound)
1 small, hot pepper, seeds removed, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 bunch mint or basil leaves
1/4 cup pitted black olives, preferably oil cured, chopped
1/4 cup sliced ricotta salata or crumbled feta
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Combine the currants or other dried fruit and cayenne with 1/2 cup of water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and let steep for 20 to 30 minutes to soften. Drain. Meanwhile toast the pine nuts on a baking sheet in a 300°F. oven until lightly golden and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes. Using a mandoline or sharp carrot peeler, slice the zucchini and yellow squash lengthwise into long, very thin strips into a large bowl. Stop once you hit the seeds in the center of the vegetable, rotate, and shave some more. Repeat. At the end you should have a long, squared plug of seeds to discard.
Combine the slices of yellow squash and zucchini with the chili, olive oil, and lemon juice. Add the mint leaves, olives, ricotta salata or feta, toasted pine nuts, and drained currants. Gently toss together, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.
Kulei (Steamed and Stir-Fried Cabbage from Shangxi)
This regional specialty was new to me, but after making it I could see instantly why those who know it consider it a comfort food. Apparently in Shangxi it is sometimes eaten instead of and as you would rice. The same technique can be used with potatoes that have been finely julienned.
1/2 medium head green cabbage
1/2 to 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
4 or 5 scallions, chopped
2 to 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
3 cloves garlic, minced
Soy sauce
Thinly slice the cabbage into shreds as you would for coleslaw. Place in a large bowl. Sprinkle some of the flour into the bowl and toss the cabbage with your hands to coat. You don’t want it to clump; you want the cabbage shreds to remain distinct and be lightly coated with flour. Keep tossing and adding flour until evenly coated. Add the salt, five-spice powder, and half the chopped scallions, and toss again to distribute.
On a bamboo or other vegetable steamer lined with parchment, mound the cabbage like little haystacks. Steam over boiling water for 12 minutes to cook through. Transfer to a clean bowl. Depending on how big your steamer is, you may have to work in batches.
Once all the cabbage is steamed, heat a wok or large frying pan over medium- high heat. Add the vegetable oil and the Sichuan pepper corns to toast for 30 seconds. Add the garlic, stir, and then add the cabbage, tossing to fry. You want the cabbage to get some crispy edges but not to clump. Continue stir frying until nicely browned. If the cabbage sticks to the bottom of the wok or pan, scrape it off and mix it in. Add a dribble or two of soy sauce to season and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with the remaining chopped scallions and serve.
Lemon Blueberry Sour Cream Crunch Cake
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups sour cream, heavy cream, or whole-fat Greek yogurt
3 cups fresh blueberries
In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and the lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until fragrant and the texture of wet sand. Remove 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture and set aside. To the bowl with the remaining lemon sugar, add the butter and cream until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Continue beating until light. Add the lemon juice, salt, and baking powder, and beat to blend. Stir in half the flour, then the sour cream, then the remaining flour, to form a stiff batter. Don’t overmix. Finally, fold in the blueberries.
Transfer to the prepared pan and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Sprinkle the reserved lemon sugar mixture evenly on top. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, until risen, brown, and firm to the touch. An instant-read thermometer should hit over 200°F. when inserted in the center. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack before serving.