First we stopped at the Tuesday Warner farmer's market to check it out and get some mushrooms from the Greenhill Collective Farm stand.
We got these gorgeous mushrooms, black trumpet and chanterelle, foraged that day. I learned from Ben, my mushroom expert, that these black trumpets are found in deciduous forests and, seeing as they resemble crumpled up leaves, can be difficult to find. But they sure smell incredible. Another thing a learned was that they take no time to cook and it's best to cook them on the side rather in a dish where they can get lost. Also, the black trumpets can be cooked whole without any slicing or dicing and the chanterelles peel apart for easy knife-free preparation. Good to know, Ben, thank you!
And I picked up this incredible homemade seasoning, Not Just Salt, which features sea salt mixed with some delicious bonus goodies like dried black trumpet and shiitake mushrooms, smoked chili flakes, thyme, dill, coriander, calendula flower, brown mustard seed and cardamom seed. Score!
And now, for the CSA package of the week.
Ok, I was admittedly extremely lazy when I got home with these treats so I just tossed them all in the fridge without any preparation. What I was really doing was seeing how long I could go without storing them properly before they tipped over the edge. Turns out, if you have a busy schedule or get lazy when it's hot out, you have a window of about 12 hours to store these veggies properly. Experiment successful!
The broccoli and peas were all bagged and good to go into the fridge. Although, if you want your peas to be ready-to-eat whenever, I would go through them and give them a good rinse and pull off the little ends.
The potatoes (yay potatoes!!) do not go in the fridge, but instead like a paper bag and a dark cool cabinet or drawer. Easy!!
The beet greens were, as usual, plunked in some water. They did get just a tad wilted from sitting in the fridge overnight, but the water will make them perk back up in no time. I boiled the beet roots, but left a couple for shaving raw into salads.
The radishes this week are stunning, don't you think? I tried one immediately and boy was it spicy! Whew! Radishes can pack quite the punch. I'm glad I know they've got an extreme kick so I will use them sparingly in salads and such.
Per usual, I sliced off the greens and the tips and submerged them in water for maximum freshness. My CSA experience so far has taught me that these guys are good like this in the fridge for at least 2 weeks! Amazing!
The GIANT head of lettuce I got is quite impressive! I am definitely going to be eating tons of salads and trying to use this up before any wilting happens. For maximum freshness I put this head lettuce in couple of inches of water in a big bowl in the fridge.
And the scallions I put in some water on the counter.
Lots of CSA recipe ideas to come, including pesto, salads and mini pizzas on the grill with my delicious mushrooms! Definitely stay tuned!
A side note: I have been collecting lots of plastic bags through my CSA at this point (peas, broccoli, potatoes come in bags). I try to reuse them as trash bags or at the grocery store, but I am definitely open to suggestions on how to cut back on this waste! Maybe I can bring them back to the farm to be reused? Any thoughts?
No comments:
Post a Comment