Dear CSA Members:
Here’s something from Chris Stearn, who has been the manager of our Bakery for three years. Chris is an avid, longtime baker, a microbiologist by training, and has worked with both the production of WELEDA medicaments and also with the production of Biodynamic soil preparations in Virginia. So, little bacteria like yeast are right up his alley. He and Carolina Gordon, our assistant master baker from Germany and their staff of four are greatly looking forward to the new Farm Store and its bakery building - out of the basement and into the sunlight!
Rachel Schneider, CSA Coordinator
At the Hawthorne Valley Bakery we use LARGE quantities of lots of
basic ingredients – literally tons of wheat, flour, butter
and other items to produce all those wonderful cookies, cakes,
breads and biscuits that are offered locally through our Farm
Store and regionally via the farmer's market at Union Square and
the summer CSA's in Spring Valley, Garden City, and
Riverdale.
Since we use these ingredients every day, we have a tendency to take them for granted. But when we stop to think about what it takes to produce them, our perspective changes.
For example, in the bakery we use blocks of butter that weigh 55 pounds each. Thinking about it, I realize that it requires about 120 pounds of cream to make 55 pounds of butter. Since the average cream content of raw milk is about 3%, that means 4,000 pounds of milk are needed to produce that cream. The average cow produces 42 pounds of milk per day, so it would take one cow more than three months to produce enough milk to give us the cream for one block of butter!
Thinking of it another way, it would take 95 cows all day to produce that much milk. The 5,000 pounds of organic butter we use each year is made from 10,900 pounds of cream or 363,636 pounds of milk, which is the equivalent of the daily production of 8,658 cows!
And that’s just for the butter in our baked goods. What if we stopped to think about what it takes to produce all of the food we eat?
I won't be taking butter for granted any longer,
Chris Stearn
Hawthorne Valley Farm Bakery
Looking Forward to Next Week’s Harvest
Anticipated for July 26th
- Basil
- Broccoli for some
- Cucumbers
- Lettuce
- Red dandelion
- Scallions
- Zucchini
Although strawberry season has ended at Thompson-Finch Farm, blueberries have not yet ripened on Grindstone Farm. Just a gentle reminder that fruit shares are NOT delivered weekly, but only as fruit ripens.
Recipe Redux
June 19
Italian Style Greens
Turnips with Greens
June 26
Bok Choy and Snap Pea Salad
Bok Choy w/ Shiitake Mushrooms
Butter-Braised Radishes with
Sorrel
July 3
Beet Salad with Orange,
Feta and Walnuts
Penne with Goat Cheese and
Chard
July 10
Spiced Napa Cabbage Salad
Layered Vegetable Salad with
Capers and Thyme
Wilted Cabbage
If you missed any of these issues, ask your site manager for copies.
On the internet, back issues are found on the “CSA” page at www.hawthornevalleyfarm.org
Also on the website’s CSA page is the NEW ‘Recipe Index’. It’s a quick guide to the recipes featured in the newsletters from 2000, 2001, and 2002. You might want to keep a printed copy with your recipe file.
Summer Bounty
Zucchini signals the beginning of the fruit of summer’s heat – tasty corn, eggplants and tomatoes are sure to follow.
If you are scrambling for your recipe box as you recall the avalanche of abundance of the last season, don’t panic yet. There will be recipes aplenty if the garden once again overflows with zucchini. For now, enjoy your zucchini in the simplest ways – lightly steamed and tossed with balsamic vinegar and mint, or sautéed with garlic in butter or oil. Young zucchini can even be eaten raw.
Spicy Peanut Sauce for Cold Noodles and Vegetables
This sauce is perfect for any combination of the following:
cooked linguine or very thin spaghetti
seeded and sliced cucumber
halved pea pods
chopped green onions
chopped tomato
thinly sliced bok choy stems
cooked chicken, shredded or cut into strips
To make sauce, whisk these ingredients together until smooth.
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil or salad oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili paste or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper or
season with hot sauce to taste.
Optional: 1 Tbsp. lemon juice & 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
Chill sauce. When ready to serve, stir sauce and pour over the noodle-vegetable mixture. Toss gently to mix. Serve mixture on plates lined with raw shredded Napa cabbage, bok choy, or lettuce. Mixture can also be chilled before serving.
Food Allergies, Dietary Restrictions, and Personal Preferencesare no reason to skip the recipes in the newsletters. Most can easily be adapted or used as a springboard for creating your own special dishes. Eliminate the peanut butter from the Spicy Peanut Sauce and you still have a great dressing; just eliminate the water as well. And since I’m not a fan of cold noodles (unless you’re talking leftover lasagna), I skipped the spaghetti and used just vegetables tossed with leftover lemon-roasted chicken. If you’ve made your own adjustments to any of the recipes, drop me a line at RiverdaleCSA@aol.com and let me know what worked for you.
Chick-Peas & Chard
This recipe is a favorite featured in previous seasons’ newsletters. Serve hot or cold.
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 ½ Tbs. olive oil
1 tomato, cut into ¼ inch dice
1 cup cooked chick peas
(or use canned & rinse well)
½ pound Swiss Chard
½ Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Remove stems from chard and coarsely chop leaves. Dice stems separately or reserved for another use.
Cook onion, garlic and stems, if using, in oil in a large non-stick skillet over moderately low heat, stirring until softened. Add tomato and chick-peas and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Add chard and cook covered, until wilted, about 2 minutes. Before serving, add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.Serves 2.
Gourmet Magazine
Napa Cabbage and Caraway Slaw
2 tsp white-wine vinegar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp finely chopped scallion
1/2 tsp caraway seeds, chopped fine
3 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage
In a bowl whisk together vinegar, oil, and salt and pepper to
taste. Add scallion, caraway, and cabbage and toss well. Serves
2.