Storing Tips

Keeping our bagged greens fresh:  Put your bagged greens in your crisper drawer with the bag slightly open. In the day(s) after harvest, the moisture from our initial washing will leave the bag. As you notice the greens losing this moisture, roll the bag down to seal it and, if very little moisture remains, add a damp paper towel. 
Even though we do wash your mixed greens, we still recommend cleaning the leaves again before eating raw.  You can choose to do that immediately when you get home or you can wash them in small batches as you need them for salads.  Some people like to wash and then store their greens in their salad spinner.  If you don’t have a handy salad spinner of your own, you can simply lay the leaves on clean towels to absorb excess moisture from washing.  Do not let them completely dry out.

Other greens: Store lettuce and cooking greens in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.  Adding a dampened paper towel will help regulate the humidity in the bag.   Alternatively, some people rave about washing lettuce leaves in their salad spinner and then storing them in the spinner in the fridge.

Radishes and carrots:  Just leaving these in the open air in your fridge will lead to LIMPNESS, so once again turn to the plastic bag method (you can reuse bags specifically for this veggie storing purpose), sealing the bag with a twist. 
OR Another method that is easy and encourages more snacking is this:  Wash the carrots or radishes (peel carrots if you want to—not necessary), chop to whatever size you like for snacking, and then place in a dish with water and right into the fridge.

Beets:  For longer storing, separate the root from the greens and store in separate plastic bags. Beet greens can be treated like chard.

Basil: Store basil at room temperature if you can.  If it is a hot day and you have no air conditioning, try this: Adjust your fridge down away from the coldest setting and insulate the bag of basil by wrapping a towel around it. The towel just serves as insulation from getting too cold. The cold will often blacken basil leaves.

 

I was talking with a customer the other day (!) about what she does with kale and she reminded me of

The Art of Braising

Season the main ingredient
--HOW ABOUT KALE OR THINLY SLICED POTATOES AND CARROTS
-- with salt and pepper.

Heat a few tablespoons of oil and/or butter over the stovetop in a heavy pan or whatever fry pan you have handy.
Saute the main ingredient of choice on medium-high heat until the potatoes brown or the kale wilts.
Add cooking liquid (water, stock, wine, juice or some combination) to the half-way point of the main ingredient.
Cover and reduce the heat to a low simmer.  Check after a few minutes to see if the liquid has been absorbed and everything is tender.

Braised Vegetables

Apparently the science of braising is the same as meat except that instead of breaking down muscle fiber, “the moist heat breaks down the vegetable's cellulose and expands its starches. The fibers soften giving the vegetables an incredible texture and flavor depending on the cooking liquid you are using.”  -www.reluctantgourmet.com    This technique is not as useful with chard.  Better for kale because there is more tough fibrous stuff to break down.   If not this week, you will all have plenty of chances to braise kale.

FREEZING

Blanch First!!

Throwing raw produce willy nilly into the freezer will result in remarkable textures that you won’t want to eat.  So that’s why you should be sure to Blanch First!

Blanching:
First cut or trim vegetables as you would to cook.
Meanwhile, boil a pot of water and prepare a large bowl of cold water.

If you are working with chard, put the de-stemmed leaves in the boiling water for only a few seconds and then transfer to the cold water using a slotted spoon.  After cooled, transfer to a container for freezing.  Zucchinis and carrots would take a few extra seconds in the pot, but essentially everything can be blanched and frozen.  Thank goodness.

Pickling Note

First of all, for those fascinated by the manipulation of fresh vegetables into condiment, casserole, or otherwise, I Highly recommend Alice Water’s In the Green Kitchen.  It is more of a collection of techniques than it is a standard cookbook.  Perfect for the CSA subscriber. 
In her book, I found this simple approach to refridgerator pickling:

Pickling can extend the life of a vegetable and is appropriate for carrots, cukes, radishes, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, onions and beets.
She starts with the brine:
1 ½ cup white vinegar
1 ½ cup water
2 ½ T sugar
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
2-3 sprigs of thyme
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
Pinch chili flakes

Bring all of the above to a boil.

Items you might want in your kitchen at all times for spontaneous cooking spices:

Coriander (I like these whole)
Mustard seed (whole)
Cumin (whole)
Cumin (ground)
Oregano
Marjoram
Thyme
Bay leaves
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cardamom
Red pepper (ground)
Crushed red chili pepper
Black pepper
Other:  caraway, fennel, allspice, cloves

*To make a curry, either buy a ready-made curry spice mix or combine coriander, cumin, red pepper, and turmeric for a mild curry.
*To grind whole seeds for recipes that require ground, use a mortar and pestle or a hammer and workbench.

Starches:

Basmati rice
Brown rice
Penne
Macaroni
Spaghetti

Dry beans: 

For quick cooking and no soak time, try mung beans which are also easy to sprout.  Lentils need no soaking.  Try all varieties of lentils: red, French, green.  The red lentils make a creamy sauce that makes people ask “What is IN this?”
Canned beans, like chickpeas or a mix of beans for soup or salad

Other:

Dried mushrooms
Parmesan cheese
Mayonnaise
Sour cream
Pickled anything
Brewers yeast for quick Peasant Dressing
Cooking wine
Olive oil
Sesame oil
Walnut oil
Butter
Rice vinegar
Apple cider vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
Tabasco Sauce

All Butter Crust for Sweet and Savory Pies (Pâte Brisée)

1. 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
2. 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 1 teaspoon sugar
5. 4 to 6 Tbsp ice water

METHOD
1 Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become thoroughly chilled.
Dough is ready to shape.

2 Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

3 Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

4 Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

5 Add filling to the pie.

6 Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

All Butter Crust with Almonds

1. 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
2. 1/2 cup finely ground blanched almonds or almond flour
3. 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4. 1 teaspoon salt
5. 1 heaping teaspoon brown sugar
6. 4 to 6 Tbsp ice water, very cold

Follow directions as for the All Butter Crust Pâte Brisée, but with the above ingredients. Include the ground almonds in with the flour and the salt and sugar in step 2 above.

To Pre-Bake a Pie Crust

If your recipe calls for a pre-baked crust, as many custard pie recipes do, follow all the steps above until you get to the point where it says to put in the filling. Note that you will need to make only a half recipe if you are only doing a bottom crust. Freeze the crust it for at least a half hour, until chilled. This is an important step in pre-baking. Otherwise the crust will slip down the sides.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. When the pie crust is sufficiently chilled, line the pie crust with parchment paper, wax paper, or aluminum foil. Fill at least two-thirds full with pie weights - dry beans, rice, or stainless-steel pie weights. Bake with weights for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cool a few minutes and carefully remove pie weights. Poke small holes in the bottom of the pie crust with a fork and return to oven (without the weights) and cook for an additional 10 minutes, until the crust is golden. Cool completely before filling. You may need to tent the edges of the pie with aluminum foil when you bake your pie, to keep the edges from getting too dried out and burnt.

Egg Wash

A lovely coating for a pie can be achieved with a simple egg wash.

1. 1 Tbsp heavy cream, half and half, or milk
2. 1 large egg yolk

Beat egg yolk with cream and brush on the surface of the pie with a pastry brush.