Beachwood Canyon CSA pick-up & Panade Recipe

Vollies John and Laura with CSA shareholder Fran at the Beachwood Canyon pick-up.








Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Beachwood Canyon pick-up today:

turnips (pictured left)
arugula
Russian Kale
red & golden beets
curly mustard (pictured below)
japanese cucumbers
celery
adolescent romaine (red & green)
fresh garlic
mint
butter lettuce

Meanwhile, Mars, who happens to be launching a unique neighborhood school in Beachwood Canyon, sent in this amazing recipe for Panade - a savory bread casserole.

Make Panade with greens (kale, mustard, beet tops, turnip tops) and bread - even if it's old, stale bread - it doesn't matter. Mars brought some Panade to the CSA pick-up for us to taste and it was DELICIOUS. Here's her recipe, dapted from Judy Rodgers’s recipe from The Zuni Café.

Panada - a savory casserole

Choose a 2 quart soufflé dish or cast iron dutch oven, The size will be a gauge as to how much bread etc you will need.

2-3- thinly sliced yellow onions
mushrooms of all kinds
Garlic cloves peeled, as many as you like
ham
Salt
1 lb green Swiss Chard, thick ribs removed, or any bitter green (kale, mustard or beet green) cut into ribbons
Day old chewy bread (not sandwich bread) cut into cubes-enough to fill your casserole
Big box of chicken stock or vegetable broth
Fontina or Gruyere or swiss cheese coarsely grated (2 cups loosely packed) or more!

HEAT ¼ cup of the olive oil, add the onions and garlic, cook 3 minutes, stir and repeat.

When golden, add garlic, reduce heat to low with a few pinches of salt.

Stew, stir occasionally -- 15 minutes. Onions should not be mushy. Remove from pan.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees so as to cook for 1 hour 45 minutes.
Heat oven to 250 degrees so as to cook 2 hours 45 minutes.

In same large pan as you cooked the onions, wilt the chard with a drizzle of water and oil. Add a few pinches of salt.
3-4 minutes. It will taste bitter—ignore that. Toss in the bread with few T of olive oil and some stock.
Arrange layers of bread and greens with handfuls of cheese and a grind of pepper. Place cheese on top.

Bring the stock to a simmer and taste of salt.
Add stock to dish, nearly to the brim (1 inch below) Wait till it is absorbed.

BAKING THE PANADE
Cover the top with parchment paper then loosely wrap the top and sides with foil--With dull sides out.
Place a piece of foil on the floor to catch the inevitable drips.
It will rise a little, lifting the foil with it.
The top should be pale golden in the center and slightly darker on the edges.
Not really necessary but you can finish by uncovering the panade and raise temp to 375 for 10-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Excellent the next day. Great for freezing.

Thank you Mars! tara

Lauren's Babies Love Greens!

Hi Tara,

Thanks so much for bringing this program to us in Beachwood Canyon and keeping this CSA alive. I love the freshness of this local produce and always look forward to the variety of greens and root vegetables. I was putting it all away and couldn't resist letting the babies satisfy their curiousity. I snapped these picks of them as they delighted in the vivid colors and texture of the beets and greens.

Sincerely,

Lauren O'Connor, MS, RD
Registered Dietitian

Note from Tara: Lauren's blog is definitely worth checking out for nutrition information. www.nutri-savvy.com

Mom to the rescue!

Tara,

I love the Silver Lake Farms CSA. Seriously, it's a blessing to be able to be a part of this. I just polished off the last portion of a saute i made on Sunday for lunch.

Thanks again for doing this. I've told all my friends about it. You might start getting more calls!

If you're interested, I blogged a little bit about my experience with my first share. Read about it here

-kevin

mmmm Sunday Frittata

Hi Tara, just wanted to thank you for the greens! My girlfriend Jen and I made frittatas with Farmer John's mustard greens, dandelion greens, and parsley this morning for a late Sunday breakfast. Just wanted to send this photo along to show you how happy our mouths are. See you in two weeks!

Mark

Celery Soup

Swiss Chard (left)




Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Silver Lake pick-up this week:

Red and golden beets (roast covered in tin foil. sautee the tops)

Celery

Green garlic (roots, stem, leaves are edible)

Mustard greens (one bunch sautee, cooks down for 2 people)

Dandelion greens (sautee in olive oil & garlic)

Swiss chard (ditto above)

Butter lettuce
Chrysanthemum greens (left)
Adolescent romaine
Arugula
Dill
Italian parsley



It's been a busy week with yesterday's City Planning Commission vote on the Food & Flowers Freedom Act. It was heartening to see so many urban farming activitists from all over the city show their support. The commissioners' approval is a big step toward promoting the cultivation and off-site sale of healthy, local fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other urban gardening products in Los Angeles.

With the Planning Commission meeting behind us, it's time for something warm and soothing, and celery soup fits the bill. It's super easy and delicious. Chicken stock gives the soup a rich flavor, but it's just as good with vegetable stock or even water. And since you puree the cooking liquid with the vegetables, you don't pour off any vitamins or minerals that might be cooked out of the vegetables.

Personally, I prefer using an immersion blender to puree the soup, but you can use a food processor or a counter-top blender if you prefer.

Celery Soup

1 bunch celery
2 medium russet potatoes
1 medium brown onion
3 C chicken stock (or vegetable stock or water) + 1-2 C additional stock or water
1 bay leaf
1/4 C cream (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
2 T chopped fresh parsley

1. Chop off the bottom of the celery and throw in the compost. Wash the stalks and remove any tough fibers from the ribs. Compost those, too. Chop the celery and leaves into large chunks and put them in a medium stock pot.

2. Peel the potatoes. Compost the peels. Chop the potatoes into large chunks. Add them to the stock pot.

3. Peel and trim the onion. Compost the skin and ends. Cut the onion into 8 pieces and put in the stock pot.

4. Add 3 C of stock (or whatever liquid you're using) and the bay leaf. Cover tightly and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until all vegetables are very soft.

5. Remove from heat and cool a little. Remove bay leaf. Puree the vegetables in the pot using an immersion blender until very smooth. If necessary, add more liquid - stock, water, even milk will do.

6. Return the pot to the stove over medium heat. Add the cream, if desired and/or more stock or water to bring the soup to your desired consistency. Heat the soup, but do not allow it to boil.

7. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot garnished with chopped fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

Shelley

V-Day for the Food & Flowers Freedom Act!

Pic: left to right: Erik Knutzen, Homegrown Evolution, UFA; Laura Garcia, CSA shareholder/Beachwood Canyon; Jed Lind, artist and CSA vollie; Shelley Marks, UFA & SLF recipe blogger; Bella Allen, CSA shareholder/Beachwood Canyon; Bruce Chan CSA shareholder/Silverlake; Jeremy Drake, musician, UFA; Molly Morrison, SLF vollie; Matthew (he found us on Facebook); Emmanuelle Bernard, CSA shareholder/Beachwood Canyon; Tara Kolla, SLF, UFA; Elizabeth Curbo, SLF vollie; Tamar Halpern, CSA shareholder/Silverlake; Kirsty Hume, super duper supermodel; Beat Frutiger, my amazing husband.

I am on cloud nine today after a resounding victory at yesterday's Planning Commission hearing for the Food & Flowers Freedom Act.

Commissioners voted across the board to adopt the clarifications proposed by City Planning. Yesterday's victory puts urban farmers in LA City on track to legally sell homegrown fruit, seedlings, nuts and flowers off-site, at local farmers' markets for example.

We still have a few stages to go (PLUM, City Council and Mayor's sign-off) but yesterday was a big day for urban farming and the local movement. Bill Roschen, head of the Planning Commission, called it "a happy day." Oh my, was as it ever!

Thirty + supporters came to the hearing! That was some show of people power! Pictured above are some of the supporters who came.

Thank you to everyone who came to the hearing, and to every single one of you who sent good vibes and letters of support. Not everyone had the chance to speak yesterday but your show of hands, your presence, was critical, so thank you for coming! Supporters who spoke in favor of the Food & Flowers Freedom Act moved the panel of commissioners, and their joyful enthusiasm, in turn, moved the audience. Yes, I cried. I couldn't help it.

LA's urban farming movement owes a great deal to Shelley Marks, our very own cooking consultant, cooking class teacher and recipe blogger. Shelley heads up Urban Farming Advocates (UFA), and our success yesterday is largely due to her hard work, energy and the way she organized us. Big hugs and kudos for Shelley!

Big thanks also to Glen Dake from the LA Community Garden Council. Also a UFA member, Glen played an important role in leading us to success yesterday. And to the rest of the UFA team for all their hard work: Dave Keitel, Erik Knutzen (is that avocado ripe yet?!!) Jeremy Drake and Lora Hall.

Thanks to the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council for supporting the Food & Flowers Freedom Act.

Thanks to all the City Planning Commissioners, City Planning staff and Building & Safety for working on this issue.

Of course, we couldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for City Council President Eric Garcetti and his team. He made it happen. He delivered. Go Eric! You rock man! Yesterday was a turning point for urban farming Angelenos thanks to you!

with love, gratitude and the joy of blooms to come,

Tara

Chrysanthemum Greens Salad

Here's what Farmer John had for us at the Beachwood pick-up this week:

Broccoli
Chrysanthemum greens
Beets
Cucumber
Fennel
Butter lettuce
Adolescent red and green romaine
Arugula
Chicoria
Italian parsley
Dill

One of my favorite things is being introduced to a new and delicious flavor, and chrysanthemum greens were new to me last week. I'm sure I've seen them in Asian markets, but I never cooked with them until Tara presented me with a bunch. They have a mild, fresh, and slightly sweet flavor somewhat like parsley crossed with celery tops and a faint but noticeable aroma of chrysanthemums.

I experimented with several preparations: They were fine sauteed in a little oil, but be careful not to overcook them. When I added green garlic to the mix, I thought it over-powered the delicate flavor of the greens, but if you're a garlic-lover, you might think differently.

I was happiest with a simple little salad tossed with an Asian-style dressing which complemented the floral notes in the greens:

Chrysanthemum Greens Salad

1 bunch chrysanthemum greens
1/2 small Japanese cucumber
1 T toasted sesame oil
1-2 T rice vinegar
pinch of sugar (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash the chrysanthemum greens. Sprin dry. Remove any woody stems. Compost the stems. Break or chop the greens into bite-sized pieces and place them in a mixing bowl.

2. Wash, but don't peel the cucumber. Slice it very thinly. Add the cucumber to the mixing bowl with the greens.

3. In a small cup or bowl, mix together the sesame oil and the rice vinegar. Add a pinch of sugar, if you'd like. Mix briskly until combined.

4. Pour dressing over salad and toss until all the leaves are coated.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you'd like, try adding a little mango, peeled and chopped; or some chopped Asian pear.

Enjoy!

Shelley