Week 23 is lovely to look at ...

The warm days of October are having a wonderful impact in the beginning of November.
Challenge of the week --what to do with a persimmon ..particularly one that is not particularly ripe.

Squash Squared Soup

I made this for our election day celebration:Acorn Squash, Kale and Apple Soup Recipe
Ingredients
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 acorn squash
1 tart apple, peeled, cored, chopped
Orange juice
3 or 4 summer squash 1 bunch kale
garlic
3/4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if vegetarian)
chipotle in adobo
Method
I think the key to this soup is roasting the vegetables until they have some crispy bits and including the bits for a smokey taste.
Heat oven to 450 . cut the summer squash and onion into a rough chop, half and seed the acorn squash and then roast until soft –also coat the garlic with olive oil and roast with the vegetables. Once soft, let them cool. Scoop out the acorn squash and combine everything in a food processor a rough puree. Add the chipotle at this point – a very little at a time- until get the “spice point” you want. Puree away.
Kale – remove tough stems and blanch for a few minutes until bright green. Drain and cool. Add to the puree of squash and puree –there will still be fairly large flecks of green.
Combine the puree of squash/kale with 1 cup of orange juice, and the chopped apple. Depending on how thick you want to the soup add 2-4 cups of stock. Let simmer for about 45 minutes. A lot of these types of soup benefit from making ahead and reheating.

Bell pepper/basil relish
1 large Roasted bell pepper, 1 bunch of basil, fresh garlic, lime juice
I also served blue cheese and sour cream as adornments.

One of my guests said it was great -- made my day!

Grapes - good eats and an underutilized ingredient

Most cuisines have examples of cooking with grapes - from curried chicken salad (or uncurried as well) to sole Veronique. Aside from eating them plain - are grapes worth the effort to make a part of everyday food?

Nutritional value of grapes

This is a great looking recipes and story about cooking with grapes...pork tenderloin with roasted grape sauce.

Pickled grapes are wonderful too. The first time I made pickled grapes --a little too much on the spicy hot side! But they are great as a condiment and a cocktail nibble.

I could've had a roasted grape!

There were beautiful grapes in the box this week and the neighborhood is littered with walnuts I found this recipe for roasted grapes. I adapted it -
grapes roasted with limoncella and spice roasted walnuts served over pears.

Notes from Sol Food Farm -week 22

WEEK 22. hootie hoo!
October 28th, 2008

Box has: summer squash, lettuce, garlic, basil, bok choi, top bunch collards, heirloom collards, red Russian kale, dino kale, tomatoes, broccoli

Week twenty two update:
Our buddy George is out of town this week in Italy for the Slow Food Conference. Some of you might recall Laura Neale was the Sol Food Farm representative two years ago. She went, had a blast, and made out with a random Greek fisherman. Farmers from all over the world convene in Turin, Italy to eat, talk and celebrate their local specialties. This year was George’s turn. He owns Earthworker Farm and sells at several markets throughout the county. While he’s gone we are taking care of his tomatoes, getting them out of the field and into your hands. Thanks a bunch George and we hope you are wooping it up over there in Italy.

Kale chips
1 tblsp apple cider vinegar
1 tblsp salt
3 tblsp olive oil
2 bunches kale

cut kale into 2 inch pieces and mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Place on baking sheet and put in oven at 350 for 10-15 minutes or

White Beans and Collard Greens

A friend sent a tasty sounding recipe...for cranberry beans and collards from the NYTIMES

My version....white beans, Italian sausage, collards (blanched first), dino kale (blanched first) and broccoli (also blanched)

Crockpots are great --and you can usually find ones in good shape at garage sales.

Week 21

twenty one. fun. from the Fellows at Sol Food Farm
October 21st, 2008

Box: spuds, basil, bok choy, lettuce, broccoli/eggplant, apples, garlic, squash/tomatoes, chard.

Well the big news on campus is that our dear friend Leo is coming up for a visit tomorrow. We really just cannot wait to scream and shout with him and call him names. As you may or may not know he has been living out in New York working on various farms and cooking at a fabulous local restaurant. He’s here through Saturday and you can catch him at the Occidental Farmer’s Market this Friday evening. He’ll be signing his new book, How to be loud and obnoxious. He is really good at it. JUST KIDDING! We love him.
As you can see, there is lots of bok choy in the box. We know you haven’t had it in a while and so just wanted to really give you a great bok choy experience. Bok choy can be steamed, stir fried, and tossed in a super crunchy salad. It’s a nice addition to any dish for it’s fresh crunch. Thanks everyone for being so super. Super duper.