Bell Pepper Egg-in-a-Hole

2 tsp olive oil

1 bell pepper cut into four ½ inch rings

4 large eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp grated parm

4 slices multigrain toast

8 cups mixed salad greens

Instructions:

In a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high. Add bell pepper, then crack 1 egg into the middle of each pepper ring. Season with salt and pepper and cook until egg whites are mostly set but yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes. Gently flip and cook 1 minute more for over easy. Sprinkle with Parmesan and place each egg on a slice of toast. Toss salad greens with 1 teaspoon oil and season with salt and pepper; serve alongside eggs.

Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/319104/bell-pepper-egg-in-a-hole

Linguine with Creamy Scallion Pesto

1 8 oz package linguine

2 bunches scallions, rinsed and chopped

½ c Almonds

2 large garlic cloves

¼ c Olive Oil

3 tbsp parm cheese

2 tbsp lemon juice

olive oil for drizzling

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Cook the linguine according to package instructions.  Drain & drizzle with a bit of olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking.  Set aside.

In a food processor (or hand blender cup), combine the chopped scallions, almonds, garlic, olive oil, cheese, lemon juice and seasonings, and purée until almost smooth.  Check for seasoning and adjust according to taste.

Gently fold about 1 cup of pesto into the linguine and stir until well-coated.  Serve as a side or entrée with a couple sprinkles of extra parmesan cheese, and enjoy!

Source: http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/2011/04/recipe-linguine-with-creamy-scallion-pesto.html

Green Tomato and Swiss Chard Gratin

1 bunch Swiss Chard

1 lb green tomatoes, sliced

½ cup cornmeal for dredging

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, minced

3 large egg, beaten

½ cup low-fat milk

3 oz gruyere cheese, grated

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degree. Oil a 2 quart baking dish or gratin with olive oil. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil, and fill a bowl with ice water. Stem the wash the leaves. Rinse the stems and dice. Set aside. When the water Comes to a boil, add the chard leaves and blanch for about one minute. Transfer to the ice water, cool for a minute and drain. Squeeze out excess water and chop. Set aside.

Season the sliced tomatoes and the cornmeal lightly with salt and pepper. Dredge the tomatoes in the cornmeal. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, and fry the sliced tomatoes for two to two minutes on each side, just until lightly colored. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in the skillet in which you cooked the tomatoes, and add the onion and the chopped chard stems. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes. Add a generous pinch of salt and the garlic, and cook together for another minute, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the thyme and the chopped chard, and stir together for minute over medium heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl with 1/2 teaspoon salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Whisk in the milk. Stir in the cheese and the chard mixture. Transfer to the gratin dish. Layer the tomatoes over the top. Place in the oven, and bake 30 to 40 minutes, until set and beginning to brown.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/health/nutrition/27recipehealth.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=greentomatoes&adxnnlx=1346072562-oRJApQoJP2tenbFRaQ8r2g

Thank You!

Thank you to all who participated in the canning workshop last week. It was a great success. Who knew you could can jam with only an extension cord and a picnic table? Marisa McClellan led a great workshop and everyone went home with a tasty jar of jam. She had books to sell that evening and I picked one up. They are worth checking out! It is a recipe book for canning small batches of canned goods, which is a great resource since canning often turns into a daunting all day marathon event. She breaks the seemingly insurmountable into a manageable task. The book itself is also a work of art, worthy of any coffee table or kitchen shelf! Check it out at: http://www.foodinjars.com/the-cookbook/

Harvest on Henry Fundraiser-- looking for volunteers

The Harvest on Henry Festival is starting to share up and we are all looking forward to October 20^th, the big day!

We still need help in a few key areas, both planning for the event before hand, and lending a hand the day of.  Both can be a great way to fulfill your CSA membership work commitment of 4 hours. Please email Nancy Dearden (nancy.dearden@verizon.net)  if you are interested in helping in any of the following areas:

Volunteer Coordinator: Help recruit volunteers for the day of (estimated to take 5 hours), and be a point person for volunteers on the day of the event (4 hours)

Ticket Sales: Sell tickets for the various games and activities during the event (4 hours)

Demo/workshop Coordinator: Recruit workshop leaders (some already have been contacted, estimated to take 4 hours), coordinate workshops and demos on the day of the event (4 Hours)

Food Committee:  Work with another CSA member who has started working in this area to solicit outside vendors for food or beverage donations/sales for consumption on site, solicit food trucks to participate, coordinate purchase of water and pretzels and oversee sales table, coordinate food vendor sales on day of event,  contact Weaves Way to purchase apples from orchard to sell at event – oversee sales table, solicit and recruit vendors to set up a table at event for sales (total of about 20 hours)

Product Sales: Work with another CSA member who has started working in this area…. to gather products to be sold, coordinate sale on day of event (total of about 8 hours)

You Made My Day!

Last Friday, my day was brightened on two separate and similar instances. While staffing the Friday pick-up Georgia Kirkpatrick told me how her dinners recently have been almost 100% Henry Got Crops ingredients. The night before, she made sausage from the winter meat share from Saul, with peppers and onions from the vegetable share. She admitted the olive oil wasn’t from here! Then about 4 hours later I got a phone call from Sandy Rotenberg who had just picked up her share a few hours earlier. She was sitting at her table and described to me everything they were eating- everything except the pasta was from the farm. Honestly, both instances came close to bringing me to tears, and probably would have if I hadn’t gotten pulled away almost immediately with some pressing farm task. The fact that these dinners are happening, and the fact that shareholders are excited to share these stories with me, is exactly why I happily spend 80 hours a week doing what I do. This is why I farm- to grow healthy food for my community. This is why I choose to farm with a CSA- to create a community around this farm. This is why I choose to have my CSA pick-ups at the farm- to know the people eating this food and share stories about the experience. Thank you all. I wish every farmer was lucky enough to hear about the joy their hard work brings to those enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Grilled Eggplant

1 Large eggplant

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves

1 pinch each thyme, basil, dill and oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Heat grill.

When grill is hot, slice eggplant about 1/2-inch thick. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper. Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with the oil and vinegar mixture.

Place eggplant on the hot preheated grill. Grill about 15 to 20 minutes, turning once.

Source: http://southernfood.about.com/od/grillfruitveggie/r/bl30627e.htm

Quinoa Hash with Cumin and Peppers

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups cooked quinoa

1 cup chopped carrots

1 chopped onion

2 sweet peppers chopped

Sea salt

2 tsp cumin

½ tsp coriander

2 cloves chopped garlic

fresh snow peas

½ cup vegetable broth

½ cup chopped fresh basil

Instructions:

In a med/large- sized frying pan, heat the olive oil for a minute or so, then toss in the chopped onions and carrots.  Cook on medium high heat for 10 minutes until the carrot is just tender and the onions are soft.  Add the garlic, 2 tsp. of cumin, 1/2 tsp. coriander and 1 tsp. of sea salt and stir in well.  Add the sliced peppers.  Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very tender and a little bit carmelized.

At this point, the pan will be a bit dry.  Don't add oil.  Just add the cooked quinoa and stir in.   Let the quinoa sit on the stove for 1-2 minutes.  If the quinoa starts to get brown, that is great, it will add flavor.  Stir in the 1/2 cup of chicken broth, the remaining 1/2 tsp. of salt and the chopped snow peas.  Cook for 2 more minutes.  Then stir in the chopped basil and cook for 30 seconds or so - just enough time for the flavors to filter through the food.  Taste, adjust and serve hot.

Source: http://www.tenderfoodie.com/blog/2011/8/16/recipe-quinoa-hash-with-cumin-sweet-peppers.html

Panini Fritti

2 medium eggplants

½ lb smoked mozzarella

1 tbsp dried oregano

3 eggs beaten

1 cup bread crumbs

1 bunch dandelion greens, ends trimmed, rinse and pat dry

½ cup flour

olive oil for frying

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Instructions:

In bowl, beat the eggs. Place flour on small plate, the bread crumbs on another small plate. Begin heating the olive oil in a saute pan ( about a 1/4 inch ). Dip the eggplant slices in the flour, then the beaten egg, then coat completely with the bread crumbs. Place in saute pan, cooking on each side until golden brown. On baking sheet place one slice of eggplant. Sprinkle with dried oregano, layer with cheese and dandelion greens. Top with one more layer of cheese and another slice of eggplant. Repeat until you have used all of the eggplant slices. Place in oven and bake 5-7 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve with mixed green salad if desired.

Source: http://www.valleynaturalfoods.com/MealSolutions.cgi?id=1168375723

Edamame Dip

1 pint freshly picked edamame

3 cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil

¼ tsp salt

2 pinches sugar

lime juice to taste

Instructions:

cut the stem end off the edamame and boil 3-5 minutes in salted water like you would use for pasta. drain and put in cold water. (if you want to eat them now and not make dip, they're really yummy). squeeze the edamame out in the water (the edamame sinks and the pods float). scoop out the pods for your compost and strain the edamame. put the garlic in a food processor or blender until it sticks to the sides. add the edamame, salt and sugar and process, scraping the sides once. pour oil in while processing or blending until the texture is right. add lime juice to taste and adjust salt and sugar as needed. the color should be a light green and the texture is not smooth.

picking the edamame was the most work in this recipe. :-)

Easy Indian Style Okra

3 tbsp butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 lb fresh okra

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground coriander

¼ tsp ground black pepper

salt to taste

Instructions:

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook until tender. Stir in the okra, and season with cumin, ginger, coriander, pepper and salt. Cook and stir for a few minutes, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover the pan. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally until okra is tender.

Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-indian-style-okra/

Rain Update

It seems like every year we talk about how strange the weather is. I wonder if there is such a thing as a “normal” year anymore. Having been in Philadelphia only 5 years, I have to rely on folks who have spent their whole lives here to give me a perspective on the current year’s deviation from “normal.” In the last five years, according to the locals, I’ve experience extraordinarily snowy, cold winters, as well as extraordinarily mild winters. Last summer started hot and dry, then turned to extremely wet. This summer started early and was at first very dry. The last few weeks have relieved the drought locally and we’ve had some spectacular down pours! This is the first year we have had a rain gauge at the farm and I’ve become quite obsessed with checking it! My father (who is a professor of meteorology) would be proud. I was curious to see if we had “caught up” on rain fall yet this year. Turns out while we are ahead of the average rainfall for the month of August, we still have a ways to go to catch up to the yearly average. However, it is remarkable to look at last year’s numbers and see that the month of August was about three times as rainy! Here is an interesting review, from NOAA.com:

Precipitation (inches)	Observed Value	Normal Value	Last Year
Month to Date	4.36	2.22	12.95
Since June 1	8.78	10.00	18.22
Since January 1	19.9	26.74	35.75

Meet Another Member of our Farming Team

Hello, my name is Yona Hudson and I am the yearlong apprentice at Henry Got Crops! I have been working at the farm, since the summer season started. Perhaps you have seen me, I'm normally helping out one of the other farmers doing something, or talking in the "Creamery" to a volunteer. I LOVE the farm, and have a HUGE passion for urban farming and sustainability. I was born and raised in Philadelphia, I'm normally wearing Crocs (depending on the weather) or my awesome sunglasses or even playing music in the field! I have been blessed with having a bunch of different food justice opportunities. For example, I participated in creating the first ever Youth Food Bill of Rights, I have been apart of the Weavers Way Bike tour, I worked at Marathon Farm last summer in Brewerytown, I was a part of the Farm Bill panel last year, etc. I plan on applying to an agriculture based college/university this fall, such as Penn State Berks or Warren Wilson College and major in Sustainable Agriculture or Food Systems. Also, my dream job would be to join Food Corp then after, travel to learn about different food systems and sustainable agriculture in different parts of the country and the world. I am and will always be at the farm, so if any of you have a question, I'd be happy to answer it. Also, if you have never met me and would like to, I will be supervising the Tuesday CSA pick-up from 2pm-4pm. Hope to see you there!!!

Sauteed Dandelion Greens

3 lbs dandelion greens, tough stems discarded, cut into 2 inch pieces.

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

5 garlic cloves, smashed

Red pepper flakes to taste

Sea salt to taste

Instructions:

Cook greens in a 10-to 12-quart pot of boiling salted water (3 tablespoons salt for 8 quarts water), uncovered, until ribs are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander, then rinse under cold water to stop cooking and drain well, gently pressing out excess water.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic and red-pepper flakes, stirring, until pale golden, about 45 seconds. Increase heat to medium-high, then add greens and sea salt and sauté until coated with oil and heated through, about 4 minutes.

Source: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sauteed-Dandelion-Greens-242014

Fried Pecan Okra

1 cup Pecans

1 ½ cups all purpose baking mix

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp pepper

About 1 pint or so of Okra

Peanut Oil

Instructions:

Place pecans in an even layer in a shallow pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally. Process pecan, flour, salt and pepper in a food processor until pecans are finely ground. Place pecan mixture in a large bowl. Add okra and toss to coat. Gently press pecan mixture into okra. Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 350 degrees. Fry okra in batches, turning once, 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown.

Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fried-pecan-okra-10000001589415/

Tim's Pickling Recipe

4 cups white wine vinegar

2 cups water

½ cup sugar

6 tbsp salt

1-3 tsp each: mustard seed, red chili flakes, coriander seed, green pepper corns, cracked (dried) ginger

2-4 bay leaves crumbled

Other seedy spices as desired (cumin, fennel, dill, etc).

Instructions:

Prepare vegetables by washing and slicing them. Put them in a stoneware or ceramic container big enough to allow pickling liquid to cover them completely.

Heat water and dissolve sugar and salt, add vinegar and spices. Let mixture boil for 3 – 5 minutes, turn heat off.

Pour hot mixture over vegetables, cover with stone or plate to push vegetables under liquid and let stand until they cool to room temperature. Place in refrigerator, wait a few days and enjoy!

Source: Shareholder Heidi Barr’s Brother Tim!

Education Corner Uodate

By: Clare Hyre, Education Coordinator

We closed out our exceptional season of 2012 with a wonderful Food justice workshop followed by a cook out hosted by the Weavers Way farm crew. As a thank you for their hard work Nina gave our final four interns a choice of salsa, pasta sauce, or peaches, all canned at our Tuesday canning workshop. 

You will see a few youth from Fumcog out on the farm for the next few weeks but the real excitement when our school groups started coming out again in hordes!  Exciting!!!

Tomato Love

By Shareholder Heidi Barr

My first day of being a working share member at Henry got crops, I helped stake tomatoes. The stakes seemed massive at 6 feet next to the tomato seedlings standing 10 inches at best. A mere 10 weeks later the tomato plants have eclipsed the stakes and the tomatoes are coming by the hundreds of pounds.

Today, receiving 7lbs (small share) – 14 lbs (large share) of tomatoes had us all talking about what in the world we would do with them.  I realize I have no shortage of plans for mine and as I look over my abundant portion of the harvest, I can hardly choose where to begin.

Here are a few of my tomato eating plans. Aside from the first suggestion being first…try these in no particular order.

Rush home and eat a warm ripe tomato straight, like an apple, probably standing over the sink and letting the juice drip where it may. This is best if the tomato in question is still warm from the sun on the farm.

Make very thin slices of a large tomato and lay them on buttered toast for breakfast.  More than one layer is good and I like un-salted butter. I sprinkle the tomato with either sea salt or sugar depending on my mood.

Cut a tomato into wedges, slice a cucumber, thinly slice ½ a red onion, put them together in a bowl, add a generous amount of rice vinegar and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar, mix it up and enjoy.

An Open-faced sandwich with sliced tomato and cheddar cheese broiled to a bubbly crispness has been a favorite of mine since junior high. A close second being grilled cheese and tomato.

I love a sort of bread lasagna I heard about on the radio one day. Layer in a baking dish stale bread, sliced tomatoes (several varieties make it colorful) plenty of fresh basil smashed (to release flavor) and fresh mozzarella sliced. Squeeze the juice of 1 or 2 super ripe tomatoes over this and top with grated Parmesan. Bake at 375 until cheese is melty and delicious looking. Let stand and cool for a while before serving. This is great at room temperature as leftovers.

There are the traditional Greek salads, the always-delicious Caprese salad not to mention the simple green salad with plenty of tomatoes – of course.

You can sun dry them, fire roast them (on the grill),stew them, can them, blanch them and freeze’em. Make salsa fresca, Ratatouille, bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich, stuffed tomatoes with tuna or chicken salad and of course gravy, as my south Philly Italian neighbor ladies used to call it, otherwise known as tomato sauce.

Happy tomato season. Isn’t it grand?