September 19 or 22 CSA

Share contents:  1 pound of organic yellow corn grits from Farm and Sparrow, 1 pint of shishito peppers, 1 pint of okra, 2 butternut squash, 1 bulb of garlic, 2/3 pound of holey arugula, 1 head of frisee endive, 1 bunch of radish.

We also put 1 aji dulce pepper in your box.  These look like habaneros but ARE NOT.  They are barely spicy and have all the fruity flavor of habaneros.  Some people call them perfume peppers.

The arugula has lots of little holes in it compliments of an insect call flea beetle.  It is still good to eat and makes an excellent salad addition, pizza topping, pesto, tossed with caramelized garlic and pasta.

The corn grits are not from corn we grew.  Just thought it would be exciting to get them in a CSA box while our variety is low.  We did just harvest a corn variety we grew this year for grits so those will come along next summer…

Frisee and Radish Salad (adjusted from Chez Panisse cookbook)

ingredients for dressing:  1 lemon, Meyer or other variety, 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 shallots, black pepper and salt.

to make the dressing:  peel and chop the shallots very fine, put them in a salad bowl, cover with the lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest , and let sit for 20 minutes.  Whisk in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Add a splash of red or white wine vinegar if you’d like.

Wash the radishes, remove the tops and chop them very fine.  Slice the radishes in thin slices.  Cut the butt away from the frisee and wash the leaves well.  Spin dry and tear into pieces of your desired size.

Just before serving, toss all ingredients together with enough dressing to coat them, adjust seasoning as needed.

A thinly sliced apple, thinly sliced fennel, or pear is a good addition to this salad.

 

Shishito Peppers with Goat Cheese

First, de-seed and chop finely the aji dulce pepper.  Set aside.

In a hot cast iron skillet with a light coating of oil, char the shishito peppers whole.  You’ll need to turn them so that all sides get charred.  When all sides are blistered looking, remove from the skillet to a plate.

If you have a sweet onion around, you can do the same thing with it and add to the plate.

Sprinkle with salt, the diced aji dulce, and crumbles of goat cheese ( a little marjoram, seaweed, black pepper, nutritional yeast are good too).  Serve with good bread, crackers, flat bread.

There is a more complicated version of this recipe in the Bar Tartine Cookbook.  And another on Martha Stewart’s website.