Fennel



Fennel



Fennel, a great vegetable/herb of springtime that I discovered only a few years ago myself. It has a wonderfully unique licorice-like flavor that can really bring that something special to whatever dish you might be making.

Facts about Fennel:

• Fennel contains specific nutrients that make it a powerful antioxidant. In particular its properties are said to reduce inflammation.
• Fennel is a member of the Umbelliferae (Apiaceae) or carrot family, along with dill , caraway and anise.
• This perennial native of the Mediterranean is called marathon in Greece, a name derived from the word maraino, meaning to grow thin. Fennel was recommended as an herb for weight reduction, "to make people more lean that are too fat," according to the seventeenth century herbalist and astrologer Nicholas Culpeper.- excerpt from Encyclopedia.com
• In the middle ages people regarded it as a "magic herb" and would hang it over their doorways to ward of ghosts as well as stick the seeds into keyholes to keep ghosts out.
• Spanish missionaries brought Fennel to California and it is now known there as wild anise. The English settlers brought it to New England where is was used medicinally as a digestive aid.

Let's Eat!

• Oh the many ways to consume Fennel! Raw, roasted, and much revered in my kitchen. Grill it, fry it, sautee it, you just have fun with it!
• My cousin Nate, your typical male meat and potato lover, actually requested this simple salad I make while having dinner at my sisters in Rochester. I was thrilled, as I always am, when I can inspire a love for salad in people.
• Here is what I do: 
• Take any kind of salad green, I think mesculn works great but you can also use arugula which is one of my favorites, add fresh basil leaves about have the amount in comparison to whatever green you use. Slice fennel thin-ish, toss with a good extra virgin olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon, and kosher salt.-- That's it.

Recipe: Fennel and avocado

• I found this delicious recipe while doing my Fennel research. Not only is it super simple and all the ingredients are available at the Fresh Egg Farm Stand-- girls, the chef in this video is someone I would definitely like to sit down to a meal with. ;) http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fennel-and-avocado-a-match-made-in-heaven/
• I have always wanted to try sipping a little sambuca with a fennel dish but it may be too much licorice for me... worth a try, why not experiment... but for a wine I would select and nice, ice cold, fruity chardonnay.
• Sit out on your deck this afternoon and enjoy this healthy salad and sip a glass of chardonnay (or sambuca haha) and bask in the fact that the sun is out and Spring is here!!

Eating Healthy for Happiness... Cheers!

Garlic Scapes

Garlic Scapes

What the heck is a garlic scape?? So many garlic growers are missing out on the delicious flavor of these healthful plants!
Scapes are the flower stalks found on all members of the Allium family (onions, leeks, chives, and garlic). In garlic, the scapes curl as they grow, and ultimately straighten, and then grow a little seed-like bulbous. Garlic producers remove the scapes to enhance bulb development and unwittingly discard them instead of delighting in their unique flavor. My Uncle Paul, who grows the best garlic I have ever tasted, gave me 87 cloves of his own to grow this year. They are coming up beautifully by the way. He also introduced me to the joy of garlic scapes at a family dinner. He simply chopped them up, soaked them in oil with a little salt and we dipped our bread in the mix. YUM! I was hooked. We wont have our fresh garlic scapes ready until approximately the end of May, but what a treat they will be!

Facts about Garlic Scapes:

• Number one they are far to over looked in their gastronomic delight!
• When the scape is curly and new that is the time to cut, usually late May-early June. That is when the scape is tender and flavorful. If one waits too long to cut the scape, like after the seed pod has developed it will be tough and not so tasty.
• Garlic scapes are milder in flavor and never reach that full hot spicy delight of a fresh clove of garlic. So for those of you who love garlic but still want to have a date sometime in this life, garlic scapes will be your new best friend.

Eating Pleasure:

• Garlic Scapes can be used in a number of ways, don't fear the snake like green curls! Just chop them up, they are nice and tender so they go great in a stir fry, risotto, frittata, casserole, soup, you name it. The possibilities are endless.
• Garlic scape pesto is a very common use so here is a very simple recipe I found in the Washington post.

Garlic Scape Pesto
Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup walnuts
¾ cup olive oil
¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Method:
Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

**Schmear this over roasted chicken with a delicious orange, beet, and arugula salad and a glass of a North Fork sauvignon blanc... yummm that's definitely on the menu as soon as our scapes are ready! (approx. end of May)

Orange and Beet Salad Recipe Ingredients

• 1 bunch of beets, leaves removed about 4 or 5 medium sized
• 2 large navel oranges, peels removed and sliced into rounds
• 1 bunch of arugula leaves, cleaned, and any thick stems removed
• Several thin slices of red onion
• optional 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (left over from your pesto)

*All ingredients can be found at the Fresh Egg Farm Stand :) I am sure I will see you soon!

Cheers to all your exotic Local cooking adventures!

LOCAL ASPARAGUS!

Local Asparagus has just arrived! Fresh out of the fields of Lyle Well's on the North Fork. We are so excited here on the farm  for the first local crop of the season! It may not look like Spring outside but it sure is so make the best of it.

Recipie Excitement!

A great LOCAL Spring food pairing, consider is:

**A King's Farm Poussin, which will be fresh and ready tomorrow (Fri. 4/29), stuffed with thyme, rosemary and garlic from our green house. I would also rub the skin down with some oil, salt & pepper. Bake at 350F for 45-50 min

**Roast some LOCAL Asparagus and then drizzle with a light dressing of, extra virgin olive oil, finely chopped tarragon (from our greenhouse), lemon, a little salt and pepper, and King's Farm eggs, hard boiled and chopped, to top off the side dish. (proportion to taste)

Then... go to Rist Liquors on Job's Lane in Southampton and get a nice Local wine to excentuate, maybe a white from the Wolfer Estates? (I am going to try their white table wine in the next few days with the recipe from Radish day and some poussin of my own. I will tell you how it fairs)

But there are so many to choose from ask their knowledgeable staff to help you out!

Horray for Local Food!

(vegetable of the day post to be coming soon!)

Radishes

The Radish. A great cool season, easy to grow vegetable that can add that peppery spiciness to any springtime salad or dish you plan to create. Garden radishes can be grown where ever their is moist fertile soil and sun. You could even grow them in the smallest city plot or in the pot on your balcony! They grow very quickly so they are a great vegetable to grow with kids.

*I recently spent two months in the Dominican Republic teaching children about various things, including gardening. The radishes (rabanos, en español) we planted were the first things to arrive and the kids were so excited... it was the flavor that they had the most trouble with. They were definitely not used to that peppery spice but they tried it and some enjoyed it, others... the faces were priceless!

Facts about Radishes:

• different types of radishes can be grown all season long. Winter radishes are sown like one would sow a turnip.
• Winter varieties are slower to develop than spring radishes; and they grow considerably larger, remain crisp longer, are usually more pungent and hold in the ground or store longer than spring varieties
• Daikon radishes (winter variety) are thought to aid in digestion, especially the digestion of fatty foods. It is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking and is always grated and added to tempura dipping sauce.
• A Dominican homeopathic remedy for issues with the lungs such as a cold or cough uses: Radishes, onions, and honey chopped up and marinated together then drank like a shot. *when my father was visiting me in the DR he had a chest cold and the pastors wife whipped him up this homemade remedy and he did get better in the next week... was it the mix or was it time? who knows.
• A 1/2 cup serving (about 12 medium) of sliced radishes provides a goodly amount of potassium, vitamin C, folate and fiber. Winter radishes such as daikons are similar in nutrients.
• Nutrition Facts (1/2 cup fresh sliced raw red globes)
  
  Calories 12
  Protein 0.35 grams
  Carbohydrates 2.0 grams
  Dietary Fiber 1 gram
  Potassium 134.56 mg
  Folate 15.66 mcg

PREPARATION (my favorite part!)

• Spring radishes are most often eaten raw. Just scrub them clean (don't peel) cut away the greens and root end and slice and dice, shred, or serve them whole. How ever you choose. The beauty of Simplicity!

Recipe: Gingery Radish Salad

http://localfoods.about.com/od/spring/r/GingerRadish.htm

• This recipe calls for the use of the herb sorrel which, if you read my previous post, is the cousin of Rhubarb! We have beautiful sorrel available at the farm stand straight from our greenhouse. It adds that lemony fresh zest that, dare I say, a lemon itself can't even match!
• I have not tried this recipe with rice vinegar but I like to use a full flavored extra virgin olive oil. Oil with a fruity, nutty, or earthy flavor would go nicely with this salad (that's the beauty of raw veggie salads!) I would choose my favorite, Bariani Oil from California, which we also sell at the farm stand.
• Paired with a nice New York Riesling (on the sweeter side) or, as an easy pair, go to a glass of bubbly, champagne or a prosecco. Nothing to dry. 

 Cheers to your Spring radish eating pleasures!

Rhubarb



Our Rhubarb Patch!

Ahh rhubarb, one of those mystical vegetables that we enjoy so much in lets say... strawberry rhubarb pie, from Tate's :)... but when faced with the strong stalks in their natural state many of us have not the first clue what to do with them. Let me help to demystify.
Facts about Rhubarb:

•  Rhubarb is a very old plant. Its medicinal uses and horticulture have been recorded in history since ancient China.
• Rhubarb is a vegetable with a unique taste that makes it a favorite in many pies and desserts.
•  It originated in Asia over 2,000 years ago.
• It was initially cultivated for its medicinal qualities, it was not until the 18th century that rhubarb was grown for culinary purposes in Britain and America.
• The blade or green leaves of the plant are the part that is poisonous. They contain high concentrations of oxalic acid crystals which can cause serious problems when eaten. These crystals can cause the tongue and throat to swell, preventing breathing.
•  Rhubarb is often commonly mistaken to be a fruit but rhubarb is actually a close relative of garden sorrel, and is therefore a member of the vegetable family. Rhubarb is rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber.

Cooking Rhubarb:

• Cooking with this delicious vegetable is much easier than one might think. You really cook it like any other vegetable, think asparagus or even zucchini.
• Roast it: Chop it up as thin or as thick as you would like roast it at 325F for about 10-15 min or until tender. Throw it on a salad, on top of some vanilla ice cream or custard, as an accompiniament to a sweet or savory meat dish.
• Boil it: You can boil rhubarb down in about 5 min using a splash or water or broth of your choice, and season however you would like. It makes a nice glaze over desserts, chicken, pork, or fish or even beef! haha it is very versitile.
• Grill it: I have never grilled it but I am going to as soon as our rhubarb is ready! If I were to do this though I would leave the stalks whole or cut in half and chop them post grilling.
• Raw: for those raw food enthusiasts like myself I like to just eat a stalk of rhubarb raw. Ok maybe, sometimes, I will dip it in some sugar or drizzle it with honey... but it is good as a tart treat all on its own.
• Tangy: Rember that rhubarb is tart and tangy in its natural state not sweet. It will add that nice tartness to whatever meal you choose to prepare, not sweet as many people mistake it for because of its wide use in desserts.

Recipe: Cool and Tangy Rhubarb-Beet Borscht
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/9061

• I made this for Easter as a first plate. I placed a dollap of homemade Tziziki Sauce on top and it was fabulous. We had Lamb with roasted new potatoes seasoned with dill and rosted asparagus to follow. A great fresh Spring meal!

ENJOY!

Asparagus!



Asparagus

Today's vegetable is asparagus, those delicious early spring spears that remind us all that warm weather is on it's way! Asparagus can be eaten in numerous ways... raw, boiled, baked, fried, whatever fits your fancy. You can spice them you can dice them or just enjoy them plain.

Lyle Wells Farm on the North Fork will be supplying us with our delicious LOCAL ASPARAGUS this week!! 

I will post immediately when available. 

One of my favorite asparagus recipes is, asparagus salad with hard boiled eggs. It is a classic Italian salad that leaves much room for creative interpretation.

Here is the link to this recipe that I like from the NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/health/nutrition/05recipehealth.html?emc=eta1

Facts About Asparagus:

• Asparagus is a member of the Lily family.
• Asparagus spears grow from a crown that is planted about a foot deep in sandy soils.
• Under ideal conditions, an asparagus spear can grow 10" in a 24-hour period.
• Each crown will send spears up for about 6-7 weeks during the spring and early summer.
• The outdoor temperature determines how much time will be between each picking...early in the season, there may be 4-5 days between pickings and as the days and nights get warmer, a particular field may have to be picked every 24 hours.
• After harvesting is done the spears grow into ferns, which produce red berries and the food and nutrients necessary for a healthy and productive crop the next season.

Asparagus is:

• Low in calories, only 20 per 5.3 oz. serving, less than 4 calories per spear.
• Contains no fat or cholesterol.
• Very low in sodium.
• A good source of potassium.
• A source of fiber (3 grams per 5.3 oz. serving).
• An excellent source of folacin. One of the best sources of folic acid!
• A significant source of thiamin. 
• A significant source of vitamin B6.
• One of the richest sources of rutin, a compound which strengthens capillary walls.
• Contains glutathione (GSH).

Vegetable Awareness Week

From Earth Day, April 22nd, until Arbor Day, April 29th-- North Sea Farm will be celebrating delicious, edible, and incredible vegetables! We will be giving short tours, to those interested, through the green house and around the farm to take a look at what we've got growing. Also included is a short talk on locally grown produce and when certain things are in season here on the East End of Long Island! It is a great way to get the family involved as we are always trying to educate and interest children in fresh vegetables. All week inside the Fresh Egg Farm Stand located on North Sea Farm we will have a different, in season, vegetable of the day! With recipes and info on the prized vegetable available through our blog. If you are interested in taking a tour give us a call at 631-283-0735 or just pop in and ask for Julia, 1060 Noyac Road, Southampton.