Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Sept. 8

Tomatoes
Onion
Wisconsin Lakes/Purple Beauty Sweet Peppers
Fish Hot Peppers
Arugula
Red Russian Kale
Purple Opal Basil
Cilantro
Shiitake

We are having a problem with deer in the garden right now so the boxes are a little bit slimmer than we'd like. They decimated all of the cabbage and broccoli and are starting to work their way through the peppers and second round of beans. We're trying to get a higher fence up ASAP.
On the bright side, the boxes have all of the key components for fresh salsa this week!
The Fish peppers are a pre-1870's African American heirloom plant. They are less hot than the Fatalii peppers from last week and would work very well in salsa.

Fresh Salsa:
5-7 tomatoes (depending on size) seeded and finely chopped
3 Fish peppers seeded and finely chopped (leave some seeds in for heat)
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
You can also throw in some sweet pepper for more color and flavor if you like
Combine all of the ingredients together gently and allow to sit at least an hour for the flavors to mesh.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Sept. 4

Sorry this is a little bit late, things have been crazy since we got back from the Boundary Waters!

This week the boxes have

Butternut squash
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Purple Beauty Peppers
Fatalii peppers (citrus flavor with the heat of a habanero)
Arugula
Onions
Carrots
Oyster mushrooms
Eggs


Butternut squash is fantastic roasted in the oven and then mixed with butter and brown sugar. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut the stem off of the squash and then cut in half. Scoop out the seeds and pulp from the center of the squash. Brush the halves with butter and place on the baking sheet cut side up. Bake for 45 minute to 1 hour, then scoop squash out of the skin and mix with brown sugar and butter.

The tomatoes are not quite as big as we would like but they're still tasty. They are great on a BLT with some arugula instead of lettuce.

The fatalii peppers work really well in roasted salsa.

We're really excited about the oyster mushrooms!! You guys are the first people that get to try them out. Most likely, they won't keep as long as the shiitake mushrooms do but they should be fine in the fridge for about a week. Tonight my mom and I are trying them out on a pizza. But you can never really go wrong with the classic butter and garlic saute.