Gila Farm Cooperative CSA Delivery Newsletter April 3rd 2012
Pick up produce Tuesdays at 5227 N. 7th St. between 4:00 and 5:30pm
Week three of ten week CSA Spring Season.
Fava Beans!? What’s that?
Fava beans, also known as broad beans, are one of the oldest plants in the history of human cultivation. The beans are popular throughout the Middle East, South America, North Africa
and Europe. They are incredibly high in fiber and iron and low in sodium and fat. This buttery textured bean has absolutely no cholesterol but is packed with so much protein that it is called the poor mans’ meat.
Fava beans have been slow to catch on in the United States because of the time needed for preparation. So, here goes….choose a slow Sunday afternoon, sit down on the back porch with your kids, and get shucking. Time spent with our food and food preparation is a reminder of how closely linked we are with the soil and what it feeds us.
PREPARING FAVA BEANS
Snap off the stem end on the stringy end of the pod
Pull down and remove the “string” that runs down the inner seam of the pod
(Alternatively, skip steps 1&2 and use a knife to open the pod)
Open pod and remove beans
Put beans in pot of boiling salt water for 1- 2 minutes
Drain hot liquid, dunk beans in ice/cold water bath
Let beans cool completely
Peel away the waxy layer coating on each bean and discard (yes, you are shelling the bean AGAIN)
Saute peeled fava beans in oil and garlic for 5 minutes.
Add to salads, stirfry’s or eat by itself and enjoy!
If you haven’t signed up for our CSA yet this season, you can go to our website to sign up. Shares are available throughout the season at a pro-rated price. Spread the word!
This is just a nice soft little cake that can be used to make a trifle or even your version of Hostess Twinkies.
Traditional
INGREDIENTS
3 eggs – separated
1/2 C granulated sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 TBL melted cooled butter
6 TBL corn starch – sifted
6 TBL AP flour – sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
STEP BY STEP
Mark your parchment with three inch lines
Turn paper over so you are not cooking on pencil
Wipe parchment paper with melted butter
Cream together egg yolks and half of your sugar
Add vanilla
Sift together corn starch and flour
In a clean bowl, beat egg whites
Add the rest of your sugar and salt to egg whites
Continue to beat until soft peaks – not firm or stiff
Combine by hand the yolks and whites
Sprinkle flour mixture into the egg mixture
Put into piping bag and pipe into three inch fat sausages
Bake at 400º for about 12-15 minutes
Let them cool, and then they are ready for whatever use you would like
If you plan to use them just like this, sprinkle them with powdered sugar
Easy but Not Too Quick
Simple Shortcake
1 C AP flour
2 TBL cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
scant salt SIFT TOGETHER ABOVE INGREDIENTS
MEANWHILE, CREAM TOGETHER THE FOLLOWING
4 TBL softened butter
1/4 C room temp sour cream
2 eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla Add wet ingredients to the dry, then gently mix
Line a 9×9 glass baking dish with parchment paper and then spray
Pour mixed ingredients into pan
Bake for 30 minutes at 350º
Let cool 5 minutes before removing
Cut into 1/2 x 1 inch rectangles
Prepared Strawberries
1 large grocery-store box of strawberries (1 quart)
Stem removed and halved
1 C sugar mixed with 3 TBL corn starch in 1 C water
Heat to nearly boiling
Add strawberry gelatin or Jello
Pour over strawberries
Let rest 30 minutes
Yogurt Cream
1/2 C heavy whipping cream – beat until it starts to thicken
1/2 C plain Greek yogurt – Greek is thicker
2 TBL granulated sugar
2 TBL brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Basic Whipped Cream Topping
1 C COLD whipping cream – beat until it starts to thicken
Add 2 TBL sugar and continue beating
1/2 tsp vanilla
Assemble
Put down a thin layer of yogurt cream on the bottom of a CLEAR dish
Stand shortcake rectangles up on end surrounding the sides
Add a layer of strawberries, then a layer of yogurt cream
Add a flat layer of shortcake, yogurt cream and then strawberries
Top the strawberries with the remainder of the yogurt cream
Add strawberries or blueberries in a decorative pattern on the top
Fresh head of butter lettuce or romaine (not iceburg)
Spices to taste
– See list of alternate ingredients below. Don’t use more than 5 total, or you will not be able to distinguish the tastes.
Cabbage finely shredded
Peanuts – roasted and salted – crushed
Sweet chili sauce
Hoisin sauce
Mayonnaise / Salad dressing
Mung bean sprouts
Julienne carrots
Rice noodles
STEP BY STEP
Cut chicken into pieces, then place in zip lock bag for 4-6 hours with 1 TBL each: Soy sauce, Sriracha, hoisin, garlic powder, grated ginger, rice wine vinegar
Strain chicken and pat dry after 4-6 hours
Stir fry onions till translucent
Add chicken to finish cooking
Mix all ingredients together
Serve with large Romaine lettuce leaves (or butter lettuce for smaller wraps and a bit more flavor)
Hoisin sauce or Teriyaki Dipping Sauce
Also makes a decent burro when wrapped in a flour tortilla.
ALTERNATE INGREDIENTS
Cilantro
Diced green onion
Garlic
Hoisin sauce
Artichokes
Sweet peppers
Shredded carrots
Cheddar cheese
Monterey jack cheese
Chopped black olives
Chopped green olives
Tomato
Feta cheese
Cottage cheese
Garlic
Capers
Mustard
P.F. Chang’s adds shittake mushrooms, sherry, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts; but then again, they serve this with iceberg lettuce!! Yech.
Veggie Wrap
Dried tomato, pimiento, Kalamata olives, Feta cheese, EVOO, garlic, taragon, lemon, salt and pepper
Other terms for Flank Steak are skirt steaks, beef bottom round roast, bottom sirloin-flat muscle/flat meat.
NOTE: Inside skirt is wider (about 5 inches) and is best for shredding. Outside skirt is narrower (about 3 inches) and is best for grilling.
INGREDIENTS
2-3 lbs – Cut with the train into two inch strips, then against the grain into 1/4 inch pieces
Toss with 1/8 tsp baking soda and 1 TBL water – let rest 5 minutes
STEP BY STEP
Marinate the night before in the fridge using a plastic bag with mix outlined below.
LET WARM FOR 30 MINUTES on the plate before grilling or juices will let loose
1. Grill on very hot, preheated grill.
– Keep left side HOT and right side cooler. Scrape hot grill grate.
2. Sear on hot side 4 min, flip and cook other side 4 minutes.
3. Done when internal temp is 125º for medium rare.
– Move to cooler side.
110º is rare
135º is medium
140º is well done. Don’t do it, just don’t do it.
Cover in foil, let juices redistribute themselves. Lemon juice over top.
Slice on the diagonal with a bias AGAINST the grain AFTER it has rested at least 5 minutes (preferably ten)
OVERNIGHT MARINATE
1/3 cu olive oil
1/3 cu soy
1 tbl rosemary
1 tbl thyme
1 tbl tomato paste
1 tbl brown sugar
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp black pepper
Pineapple juice
Garlic
Dijon Mustard
Paprika
Shallot
Overnight Marinate – Use ingredients to taste
This is a webmaster reference page. To see more webmaster reference pages, use the link below.
Occasionally you will have to RETURN to a previous page, such as Chicken Empanadas and Chicken Tinga. The base for both is Poached Chicken.
Rather than repeating the recipe, I am using a back button, so the chef can click to go to the recipe for Poached Chicken, and then return to the recipe on which they were working.
The basic user: What you will see are three back buttons.
Developers: These three buttons are coded slightly differently, but the result is the same – they return you to the previously viewed page. Some will and some will not work with your specific instance of WordPress. My suggestion to you is to try all three and determine which works best for you. They must be installed on the Text edit screen, not the Visual edit screen.
NOTE: WordPress will probably take control and reformat the button to whichever coding standard your particular theme prefers. Go with it. The functionality is the same. Why should you care how WordPress reformats it.
The script which has generated the button is shown AFTER the instances of the button. Please comment below if this page was helpful to you.
<button onclick=”goBack()”>This is a Go Back Button</button>
All three methods call a JavaScript function called goBack() which must exist on each page featuring the back button. That script is shown below.
<script>
function goBack() {
window.history.back()
}
</script>
WordPress does, however, do some wonky things with the back button and history, so another option (that I eventually used) is to use a plugin called GoBack
Copy and paste from below. You will probably have to reformat the double quotes. This must be entered in the Text Edit Mode. If you return to that page, this button will probably break.
<button onclick=”goBack()”>Return to Previous Page</button>
<script>
function goBack() {
window.history.back()
}</script>
The literal translation of this is simply “Chicken that is just a little bit spicy.”
If you are making Poached Chicken from scratch, START HERE. Use the back button on the Poached Chicken page to return to this recipe. You can also use a precooked deli chicken.
A frittata is just a fancy way to say casserole. You can really put just about anything in your frittata. Here is something that I made that turned out very well.
INGREDIENTS
Left-over breakfast ham
Left-over French Fries
Left-over peas
1/4 C left-over cottage cheese
4 eggs
1/4 C milk
Shredded Mexican Cheese Blend
Basil leaves
1/4 C frozen/thawed spinach
STEP BY STEP
Oil your eight inch cast iron skillet or individual ramekins
Heat your meat and your french fries (both cut up) in a skillet
Pour into mixing bowl with peas, milk, eggs and shredded cheese
Move to ramekins and bake in oven at 350º for about 15-20 minutes
Think of this recipe as a general idea and improvise. Use cooked greens like spinach and chard instead of all or part of the potato. Or before cooking the vegetables, saute several slices of good bacon or pancetta in the skillet until barely browned. Remove from the skillet and set aside. Discard the fat in the pan and proceed with the rest of the recipe. Add the bacon to the egg mixture before pouring it over the potatoes.
INGREDIENTS
Zucchini (cubed fairly small)
2 Roma Tomato (pieces)
1 TBL olive oil
1 sm onion (diced)
½ TBL thyme
scant salt & pepper
3 eggs – beaten
2 TBL whole milk or yogurt
1/3 C shredded cheese
STEP BY STEP
Place zucchini, onion, thyme, salt& pepper in an oven safe skillet with EVOO
Saute in olive oil till tender – 8-10 minutes
Cook uncovered till most liquid evaporates
Add 3 mixed eggs, 2 tbl whole milk or yogurt.
Turn heat to med low and add eggs to pan
Lift zucchini just enough to let eggs flow thru.
Add sliced tomatoes and 1/3 cu shredded cheese
Distribute over top, cook on stove top 15 min.
Sprinkle lightly w/more shredded cheese, and bake in over 15 minutes
This is actually the base for dozens (if not hundreds) of recipes. It is actually very easy, but it takes a bit of time, so start this before you start on any other portion of a recipe. It is always better to let it cool after poaching so you don’t burn yourself.
INGREDIENTS
STEP BY STEP
Bring 3 C of water to a boil
Add 1 TBL salt
Cut your chicken into pieces so it compactly fits into your pot
Add water just to barely cover your chicken
Add 1 bay leaf, 1 TBL peppercorns (whole) , 3 cloves garlic (whole) and 1 onion (pieced)
Bring to a full boil, then reduce heat
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes
Drain and set aside to cool
Discard the chicken skin, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic and onion
Retain the chicken stock for use in other recipes
After it can be safely handled, use two forks to shred it into pieces/strips