glacier grist
Issue #24 • Thursday, April 09, 2009
15 April 2009 box contents
from Alaska’s Glacier Valley Farm and VanderWeele Farm:
Alaskan russet potatoes | Alaskan carrots | Alaskan onions
from Outside:
certified organic strawberries | certified organic Braeburn apples | certified organic Navel oranges| certified organic celery| certified organic Romaine lettuce | certified organic radishes | certified organic button mushrooms
PRICE CHANGE
In order to be able to offer you a nice variety of domestic, certified organic vegetables and fruits along with your local produce, we’ve discovered that we need to raise the price of each box to $35.
LOCAL VEGETABLE FORECAST
We’re so pleased that we’ve been able to keep the boxes coming this winter—we weren’t sure how long our local vegetables would hold out! We’ve just run out of cabbage, but our carrots, potatoes, and onions are still holding out. We’ve been talking with lots of local farmers, asking them to plant lots of interesting vegetables for us, including plenty of storage crops for next winter!
The radishes have popped up in Arthur’s greenhouse, and we’re watching the spinach… We’re really looking forward to loading your boxes with local produce, in just a few weeks! Arthur has big strawberry plans (and lots of plants ordered)… Look forward to local FRUIT in your boxes as soon as strawberries can be harvested this summer!
Thanks so much for supporting your local farms through the winter, and we look forward to offering you even more exciting boxes as we move into spring and summer.
BOX LIMITS
Because we have to pre-order our Outside produce ahead of time, each week we set a limit for the number of boxes available. We’re excited to grow with you, so if we hit our limit one week, we’ll set the limit higher the following week! But if we hit the limit for the boxes in a week, you won’t be able to order for that week—so try and get your orders in early!
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!
Please let us know if you aren’t happy with anything in your box, and we’ll make it up to you in your next box.
ALASKAN ONIONS
Despite our best efforts to tell the good from the bad, sometimes an onion turns up rotten in the CSA boxes. Why is this? Arthur explains: “Onions are one of the newer crops we are producing here in Alaska, and we still have a lot to learn. Growing them is easy; the hard part is perfecting the curing process: getting the outer layer of the onion dry enough to protect the inner onion. In warmer climates, onions are cured in the field before they are stored. Here in Alaska, farmers are trying to figure out how to cure onions indoors, without the benefit of a longer, hotter growing season. We donʼt have the process perfected but we are well on our way.”
So--should we quit putting Alaskan onions in the box because of the risk of a rotten one ending up in the boxes? We decided to put extra onions in your boxes, so in case you get a bad one, you’ll still have plenty. You’re part of the process of Alaskan farmers learning how to cure onions!
NEW PICKUP LOCATIONS!
We’re excited about our several new pickup locations since the new year. If you’re signed up to pick up your box at a different location, but would like to switch to any of these sites (keep in mind, the ConocoPhillips building is a secure building--so only employees of that building can sign up there), just send us an email at and we’ll change your selection.
PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOXES!
For more recipes, check out my Alison’s Lunch blog, or the South Anchorage Farmers Market website. And check out our
new glacier grist recipe index!
Cheers! And happy cooking! --Alison
recipes
for glacier grist Issue #24
caesar salad with whole-wheat garlicky croutons
This is a fun salad—and it makes a head of romaine into a complete meal. You can make a double batch of this dressing and refrigerate the leftovers in a jar for a meal later in the week.
It’s a great dish for company, and it’s very easy to bring it along to a potluck dinner—just bring all the components separately, and don’t dress the salad until you’re ready to sit down and eat. (Otherwise, the lettuce will wilt before you eat it.) It’s based on a recipe from Peggy Knockerbocker’s book Olive Oil: From Tree to Table.
I generally just serve this as an entire dinner, because who wants to eat anything else? However, it’s also very nice topped with slices of grilled chicken breast or halibut.
dressing:
half of a 2-ounce tin of oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained, rinsed and blotted dry on paper towels
3 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 egg (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
fresh-ground pepper
1. In a food processor or blender, combine the anchovies and garlic and process to mix. Add the egg, most of the lemon juice, and the mustard and process to combine. With the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil in a thin, steady stream. Season with pepper and process again. Taste, and add as much of the remaining lemon juice as needed to get a good balance of flavors. Refrigerate until ready to eat.
salad & croutons:
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 to 2 large heads romaine lettuce
5 slices hearty whole-grain bread
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed in a garlic press
¼ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mash the garlic with the salt in the bottom of a medium-sized bowl. Stir in the olive oil. Cut the slices of bread into ½” cubes and toss them in the garlicky oil until the oil is thoroughly absorbed and distributed. Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes, until the croutons are crispy and golden-brown.
2. While the croutons are baking, wash the lettuce, dry the leaves and tear into pieces, and place in a large salad bowl.
3. When you’re ready to sit down and eat, drizzle some of the dressing over the leaves and toss, adding more dressing as needed until all the leaves are coated. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, toss again to mix, and then toss in the croutons. Sprinkle with pepper and serve right away, before the lettuce wilts.
twice-baked potatoes with garlicky mushrooms & parmesan cheese
Make baked potatoes into a luscious meal! You can substitute cheddar or other cheese.
4 large russet potatoes, scrubbed, dried, and rubbed lightly with olive oil
1 package mushrooms, cut into halves, quarters, or slices about ¼-inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
½ cup buttermilk or milk (or more)
½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
½ to 1 cup parmesan cheese , freshly grated
freshly-ground black pepper
1. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake potatoes on baking sheet until skin is crisp and deep brown and skewer easily pierces flesh, about 1 hour. Setting baking sheet aside, transfer potatoes to wire rack and let sit until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes.
2. While the potatoes bake, heat the oil over high heat. Add the mushrooms all at once and move them around the pan so they all pick up a little of the oil. Keep sautéing even though the pan appears to be dry. Once the mushrooms yield their juices and the juice cooks off, they’ll begin to color nicely. When golden, season well with salt and pepper, turn down the heat, and add the garlic and sauté for another minute.
3. Using an oven mitt to handle hot potatoes, cut each potato in half lengthwise, across the wide part of the potato. Scoop flesh from each half into medium bowl, leaving a 1/8-inch to ¼-inch thickness of flesh in each shell. Arrange shells on baking sheet and return to oven until dry and slightly crisped, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mash potato flesh with fork until smooth. Stir in yogurt or sour cream, milk, and salt and pepper to taste, until well combined. Add more milk until desired consistency of creamy mashed potatoes. Stir in mushrooms.
4. Remove shells from oven and increase oven setting to broil. Holding shells steady on pan with oven mitt, spoon mixture into crisped shells, mounding slightly at the center, and return to oven. Broil until spotty brown and crisp on top, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
celery-apple salad with currants and walnuts
You can make a regular Waldorf salad with your apples and celery this week (with a mayonnaise and yogurt dressing), but this is a little different spin on that theme, using walnut oil or olive oil instead of mayonnaise. If you don’t have currants, just use raisins. It’s based on a recipe in Deborah Madison’s Savory Way. Use toasted walnut oil (like Loriva) to get a good flavor.
½ cup dried currants or raisins
1 large head of celery
2 or 3 sweet apples
5 or 6 pale green celery leaves
4 parsley branches (optional but very nice)
½ to 1 cup walnuts, toasted for 10-15 minutes in a 350 degree oven until fragrant
1 to 2 tablespoons toasted walnut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
lemon juice or white wine vinegar
sea salt or kosher salt
freshly-ground pepper
1. If the currants are hard, steam them for 5 minutes over boiling water, or soak them in hot water while you cut the celery and apples. Drain.
2. Separate the stalks of celery and if the outer stalks are tough, peel them. Cut the celery into thin slices. Cut the apples into quarters or sixths if they are large, and thinly slice them crosswise. Finely chop the celery leaves and the parsley. Chop the nuts coarsely, or leave them whole.
3. Combine the celery, apples, currants, celery leaves, parsley, and walnuts in a bowl. Toss them with just enough walnut 0il to coat everything lightly. Add the lemon juice or vinegar to taste, salt lightly, season with pepper, and toss again.
ginger-carrot pilaf
This recipe is based on a Persian pilaf recipe in Mollie Katzen’s Vegetable Heaven. The rice is cooked using the lots-of-water method, which works perfectly for brown basmati.
If you like LOTS of veggies, make a double batch of the carrots for this amount of rice. At the table, I like to sprinkle it with chopped, toasted cashews.
1 ½ cups uncooked brown basmati rice
1 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
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1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 cups grated carrots
½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
¼ cup golden raisins
freshly ground black pepper
fresh lemon juice
roasted, salted cashews (optional garnish)
1. Fill a medium-sized pot with 10 cups or so of water (it doesn’t need be exact) and bring to a rolling boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and rice to the water, turn down the heat, and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the rice is just tender. Drain the rice in a strainer over the sink, and immediately dump back into the hot pot. Cover tightly with the lid and let steam OFF THE HEAT for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice. Now it’s ready to add to the rest of the ingredients.
2. While the rice cooks, heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and ginger and cook over low heat for about 30 seconds. Add the cumin, carrots, and salt and sauté for 5 to 10 more minutes, until the carrots are tender. Add a little water as needed to keep the carrots from sticking. Stir in the raisins at the end and add pepper and more salt to taste.
3. When the rice is finished cooking, stir in the carrots. Taste it, and see if you think it needs a little lemon juice to bring the flavors up. If so, squeeze a little lemon juice in, and add salt if needed. When you serve it, spinkle with chopped cashews if you like.
open-faced radish sandwiches
A classic French way to eat radishes:
Spread a slice of bread with butter. Top with slices of radish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
