Giardiniera

Italians make a lovely pickled vegetable mix called Giardiniera.  It usually consists of cauliflower, carrots, onions and red bell pepper.  Some recipes call for chunks of cabbage and/or pepperoncini as well, while others add enough red pepper flakes to give it a kick.  I've sometimes substituted romanesco for some of the cauliflower to great effect.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        This Giardiniera can be poured into pints jars and processed in a hot water bath canner to make a shelf stable product that will keep for at least a year, or you can skip this step and store it in the fridge for up to 14 days.

It's delicious chopped and added to an antipasto salad or an Italian sub sandwich as well as on a relish plate.   Consider adding chopped Giardiniera to grilled cheese made with provolone cheese on Italian bread.

For about 3 pints:

2 T + 1 t kosher salt
4 C cauliflower florets
2 C peeled and sliced carrots
1 t black mustard seeds
1/2 t cumin seeds
1 t black peppercorns
2 C white 5% vinegar
3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
5 thin slices peeled fresh ginger
1 small yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
1/2 C sugar
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 t ground turmeric
1 C red bell pepper cut lengthwise into strips

1.  Add 1 t kosher salt to a large pot with 2 quarts of water (set aside 2 T kosher salt) and bring the water to a boil.

2.  Add the cauliflower florets and sliced carrots to the boiling water.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Drain and add vegetables to an ice water bath to stop cooking.  Set aside.

3.  Put the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and black peppercorns in a medium saucepan and toast the spices over medium heat until fragrant.

4.  Add the vinegar, garlic, ginger, onion, sugar, red pepper, 2 T salt, and turmeric.  Add 1 C water.  Bring to a boil.

5.  Mix the red pepper strips with the blanched cauliflower and carrots.

For shelf-stable canned Giardiniera:  Pack the vegetables tightly into clean, hot pint jars.  Pour the hot brine over the vegetables.  Remove any air bubbles with a plastic knife.  Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp cloth.  Screw on the lids.  Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes.  Remove from canner and allow to cool completely.  Check seals.  Allow sealed jars to sit to 2-5 days before opening.  Store any unsealed or open jars in the fridge.

For quick pickles:  In a non-reactive and heat-resistant container, pour the hot brine over the vegetables.  Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 days before using.  Store quick pickles in the fridge for up to 14 days.

Today's bounty included:

From County Line Harvest South:  Collard greens, red chard, and beets;

From Jimenez Family Farm:  Space spinach, Japanese turnips, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, butternut squash, potatoes, and carrots;

From K and K Ranch:  Tangerines and navel oranges;

From Silver Lake Farms:  Assorted herbs and lemons.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Oven Roasted Whole Cauliflower

Are you looking for a super simple side dish for Thanksgiving?  This oven roasted cauliflower recipe may be just the thing.  It's delicious and dramatic, and it couldn't be easier.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F.  Remove the outer leaves and cut out the tough core of the cauliflower.  Wash the cauliflower and pat it dry.  Rub it with a generous amount (2-3 T) of olive oil.  [If you prefer, you can brush it on.]  Sprinkle it generously with salt (about 1/2-1 t) and pepper (1/4 t or to taste).  Place it on a cookie sheet or in a shallow-sided roasting pan and roast it for about an 60-90 minutes until it's tender when pierced with a fork and golden brown on the outside.

You can stop right there and you have a simple and beautiful side dish, but I like to remove the cauliflower from the oven and sprinkle it generously with smoked paprika.  Then I return it to the oven for another 10-15 minutes.  If you want to get even fancier, you can make a simple sauce to serve with the roasted cauliflower.  I like this one:

4 cloves finely chopped garlic
4-6 T capers, drained
1 stick butter

Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat until the butter is melted and the garlic is just beginning to color, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and serve with roasted cauliflower.

You can roast a head of garlic while the cauliflower is in the oven.  It should only take about 20 minutes.  Then you can substitute roasted garlic for the finely chopped garlic.  Chopped parsley makes a nice garnish.

Today's bounty included:

From Jaime Farms:  Cauliflower and red and green peppers;

From Jimenez Family Farm:  Rainbow chard, winter squash, strawberries, dill, and cilantro;

From K & K Ranch:  Pick Lady apples and grapes;

From Maggie's Farm:  Garden salad mix, spicy salad mix, and tatsoi;

From Weiser Family Farm:  Potatoes and beets;

From Silver Lake Farms:  Oregano, rosemary, and mint.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Roasted Cauliflower Dip

I love cauliflower and I'm always looking for new and interesting ways to prepare it. This dip is my adaptation of a recipe I saw on the Food & Wine website. The recipe calls for slicing and roasting the cauliflower with ginger, salt and coriander. The roasted cauliflower was so delicious when I took it out of the oven, it would make a wonderful dish just like that. So if you're looking for a hot cauliflower side dish, just follow this recipe until you take the cauliflower out of the oven.

Making the dip requires just a few more steps, but you'll be rewarded with a delicious and distinctively different dip.

1 large cauliflower
3-4 T vegetable oil
2 T grated fresh ginger
1 T ground coriander
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 tahini (sesame paste)
3 T fresh-squezed lemon juice
3 T toasted sesame seeds, or to taste
1/4 C plain yogurt
finely chopped fresh cilantro to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Trim the leaves and tough stem off the cauliflower and compost them.

3. Cut the caulflower in half and cut each half into 1/2" slices. Place the sliced cauliflower in a large bowl. Toss with the oil, ginger, coriander, salt, and pepper.

4. Spread the cauliflower on a baking sheet and roast until tender and lightly browned in spots. [Stop here for a wonderful side dish.] Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

5. Transfer the cooled cauliflower to a food processor and process to a chucky puree. Add the tahini and lemon juice and process until just incorporated.

6. Transfer mixture to a bowl. Stir in the yogurt, sesame seeds, and cilantro. Adjust the salt, if necessary. Chill before serving. This dip is great with pita chips.

My New Frontier Family Farm chicken is roasting in my oven right now and the aroma is delicious. It was a beautiful bird to prepare; lovely taut skin, pretty pink color, and a very fresh smell. I simply rubbed my bird with olive oil, seasoned it with lots of salt and pepper and some smashed fresh garlic. I cut up half a lemon and stuffed it in its cavity, and I sliced half a brown onion and scatter the slices inside and outside the bird. I can't wait to eat it.

Today's bounty included:

From Underwood Family Farms: Artichokes, acorn squash, green leaf lettuce, broccoflower, cauliflower, Japanese turnips, red bell pepper, yellow carrots, and Fuyu persimmons.

From Weiser Family Farms: white carrots, beets, German Butterball potatoes, and Dragon Tongue beans.

From Sage Mountain Farm: arugula, summer squash, Red Kuri squash, spaghetti squash, and collard greens.

And from Rancho Santa Cecilia: Hachiya persimmons and Satsuma mandarins.

Enjoy!

Shelley

Spring Season Recipes for asparagus, celeriac, cauli and peas...

It's our second week with Sage Mountain Farm and I'm loving it. Phil, pictured here, makes the drive from Temecula. The traffic is awful but he's still smiling. Crops are coming in. Soil is warming...

Phil tells us the news - what the weather is doing and how things are going at the farm. The weather's been so crazy. Cold and frost have caused some damage. Farmers' markets make long, long days, in part because of Sage Mountain's rural location. It's all good tho. The work is rewarding. What Sage Mountain would love is a restaurant account or two Downtown/Eastside, delivering Fridays.

Elf? Local? Forage? Palate? Corina and Jane at Canele! Please check out Sage Mountain Farm!

Graham and I help Phil unload the veggies while he tells us a story about how NOT to erect a hoop house. He's funny.

It's a good week. Here's the scoop re the week's bounty:

From Sage Mountain Farm: Red Fire lettuce, golden beets, baby heirloom leeks, green scallions, tuscan kale, Chantennay carrots, broccoli leaves, Italian heirloom green garlic

From Underwood Family Farms: Romaine lettuce, celery root, asparagus, sugar snap peas, cauliflower, mizuna, purple carrots, blood oranges

From Rancho Santa Cecilia: grapefruits, Golden Nugget mandarins

From Silver Lake Farms: arugula and radish microgreens

This week's recipes comes from my dear, dear friend Sherry, who found them in a book. Sherry? What was the book?

She says: This vinaigrette is delicious with fennel, beets and carrots or on a citrus or avocado salad.

Blood Orange Vinaigrette

1 tsp finely grated orange zest

1/4 c fresh orange juice

2 tsp white wine or balsamic vinegar

Salt + Pepper

3 Tablespoons light olive or sunflower oil

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Combine orange juice + zest, vinegar and 1/8 tsp salt - let stand for 15 min. Whisk in the oils and season w/ a little pepper.

This is an exceptional recipe but you do need a few spices which are available at the Spice Station.

Curried Cauliflower & Peas

1/4 C vegetable oil

1/2 tsp toasted ground cumin

1/4 tsp asafetida

1/4 C peeled + diced ginger

4 tsp toasted ground coriander

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp turmeric

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 large cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces w/stems

Salt

1/2 lb sugar snap peas, strings removed

2 tsp ground amchoor (green mango) powder

1 tsp garam masala

In wide pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add cumin and asafetida and cook for 3o seconds, stirring constantly. Add the ginger, coriander, chile, and turmeric and cook for 30 seconds more. Add onion, lower the heat, and cook until soft, stirring occasionally about 4 minutes. Add the cauliflower and 1 1/2 tsp salt. Mix everything together, then pour in 1/2 c water, cover the pot, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the peas and cook for a few minutes more, until they're bright green. Add the amchoor powder and garam masala, stir together, taste for salt and serve over steamed rice.

Enjoy!

Tara

PS. Hello Shelley!!

Fried Cauliflower and Onions

My friends, Susan and Kirk, are visiting from Portland. They joined me this fine afternoon when I picked up my veggies. As we were pulling out of the parking lot, Susan started talking about how she prepares cauliflower. She chops it into very small pieces, much smaller than the typical florets, and sautes them with finely chopped onions in olive oil until brown and somewhat crispy. She got this idea from the chef, Caprial Pence's, blog.

As we drove home, we riffed on the many delicious possibilities that this basic preparation might lead to. Tossing in some toasted pine nuts and finishing the dish with grated parmesan and chopped parsley sounds like a terrific side dish. Susan says that Caprial Pence mixes the cauliflower with pasta, like pappardelle, and adds some cooked and crumbled Italian sausage. What a wonderful main course.

Here's how I'm going to make this dish:

2-3 T olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 medium cauliflower, trimmed and chopped into approximately 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 C toasted pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste
2-4 T finely grated parmesan cheese
2 T chopped parsley

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.

2. Add the onions and saute for 1 minute.

3. Add the chopped cauliflower and saute until brown and somewhat crispy.

4. Stir in the toasted pine nuts.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6. Sprinkle with grated parmesan and chopped parsley.

It wouldn't hurt to add a little heat to this dish in the form of red pepper flakes. Or you can go a different direction entirely and add raisins and a little finely grated orange peel. Whatever you do, have fun.

Here's what we had in our box this week:

From Underwood Family Farms: carrots, golden beets, Zintano avocado, broccoli, red leaf lettuce, French breakfast radishes, rainbow chard, lemon and butternut squash.

From Silver Lake Farms: arugula and mustard shoots.

From Rancho Santa Cecilia: those divine satsuma mandarins and Hass avocados.

And shareholder Debra brought in beautiful pink grapefruit. Thanks Debra!

Enjoy!

Shelley