Weekly Share September 8, 2009

Weekly Share Sept. 8, 2009

Tomato and Pesto Tart

Adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food

Ingredients
9 oz puff pastry
All-purpose flour to dust
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbs. water to glaze
1-2 tbs. pesto
Cherry tomatoes halved or small tomato chunks
1 small rosemary sprig, leaves only, minced
A few thyme leaves
2 small onions, trimmed and finely sliced
2 tbs freshly grated parmesan
3-4 basil leaves, roughly chopped
Olive oil to drizzle

Instructions
Heat the oven to 425. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured counter to a large rectangle, about 6 X 10 inches. Using a sharp knife, score a ½-inch border around the edge, making sure you don’t cut through the pastry. Brush the border with egg glaze. Spread the pesto over the pastry (within the border) and arrange the tomato pieces on top. Scatter over the top the rosemary, thyme, Parmesan and green onions.

Bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and crisp. Scatter over the top the chopped basil and drizzle with a little olive oil. Cut into quarters and serve hot or cold. Serves four.

Shaved Fennel Salad

Ingredients
* 1 fennel bulb, shaved paper thin with a mandoline or meat slicer
* 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
* 1/8 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme leaves
* 1 Tbsp chopped flat-leafed parsley
* 2 Tbsp shaved Parmesan cheese

Method
Mix all ingredients together. Serves 2-3

**Taken from www.simplyrecipes.com

Baked Radicchio and Mozzarella Pasta

INGREDIENTS
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium white onion, small dice (about 1 cup)
• 7 medium Roma tomatoes cored and coarsely chopped
• 3 heads radicchio (4 cups), sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 pound penne rigate or ziti pasta
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, small dice (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 400°F and arrange a rack in the upper third. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When it foams, add garlic and onion, season well with salt, and cook until translucent. Add tomatoes and let simmer until slightly reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes. Add radicchio and cream, and cook until radicchio is wilted, about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
3. Meanwhile, cook pasta in the salted water for about half the time recommended on the packaging and drain. (Do not rinse.) Set aside.
4. Once sauce has finished simmering, combine it with half-cooked pasta and mix until pasta is evenly coated. Place pasta mixture in a 13-by-9-inch baking dish and sprinkle mozzarella and Parmigiano over top. Place in the oven and bake until mixture is bubbling, pasta is al dente, and top is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

**curtesy of www.chow.com

Late blight yields bitter harvest

“Slumped in his tractor, Ari Kurtz looked out at his fields, where rotting fruit and gnarled plants fringed with dead leaves were all that remained of what should have been a bountiful tomato harvest.”

Click here to read the rest of the article

Come Visit Our Partner Farms – Family and Friends Welcome!

This year’s farm gathering for all Windflower Farm shareholders will take place during the August 28th-30th weekend. It’s timed to allow us all to attend the Washington County Fair on Sunday before going home
as well as enjoy the best swimming conditions on the Battenkill River (for those who arrive Friday PM or early Saturday).

Ted Blomgren, our farmer, will organize some farm tours at Windflower Farm (vegetables, berries and flowers) and at nearby Elihu Farm (egg share), and Lewis-Waite Farm (meats, etc.) for mid-day Saturday and Sunday morning. We’ll have a potluck meal on Saturday evening, followed by a hay ride to an overlook and a bon fire. Windflower Farm can offer camping at a site that offers running water, nice outhouses, a grill, ice chests, and limited refrigerator space. There are also a number of hotels and bed and breakfasts in the area around Valley Falls, where the farm is located. The farm will host breakfast for everyone on Sunday.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP by clicking here!

Cilantro Pesto

INGREDIENTS

1 (16 ounce) package of farfalle or penne pasta
1 bunch or 2 packed cups fresh cilantro
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice (optional)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chopped and seeded serrano chile
1/2 cup walnuts or pine nuts
salt to taste
1/2 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and return water to a boil. Cook pasta for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain well.
2. In an electric food processor or blender, blend cilantro, garlic, lime or lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, pepper, nuts, and salt. Add 1/4 cup of the olive oil, and blend the pesto. Add more olive oil until the pesto reaches your desired consistency.
3. Pour pesto in a small saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring constantly, until pesto begins to simmer. Pour over cooked pasta, toss and serve.

For more cilantro recipes and storage tips, go here!

How to Make Pickled Spicy Cucumbers – Korean Pickle Kim Chi Recipe

Cilantro – a widely used herb

Cilantro is the leaf of the young coriander plant, an herb in the parsley family, similar to anise. The seed of the cilantro plant is known as coriander. Although cilantro and coriander come from the same plant, their flavors are very different and cannot be substituted for each other. Cilantro is traditionally used in Middle Eastern, Mexican, Mediterranean, Indian, South Asian and Southeast Asian cooking. Cilantro’s taste is a fragrant mix of parsley and citrus. Store cilantro in refrigerator with cut ends in a jar of water and leaves loosely covered with a plastic bag for several days. Change water every 2 days or store in a plastic bag for a week. Cilantro matches well with avocado, chicken, fish, lamb, lentils, mayonnaise, peppers, pork, rice, salads, salsas, shellfish, tomatoes, and yogurt. Add cilantro to salsas and bean dips. Mix crushed cilantro into sour cream and use it as a topping for chili, tacos, or enchiladas. Sprinkle cilantro over stir fried vegetables for color and flavor. Add it to sesame ginger dressing when making Chinese chicken salad.

Cilantro Lime Salsa Fresca Recipe

Ingredients:
3 large tomatoes or 5-6 plum tomatoes, diced small
1 med. white onion, diced small
1 jalapeno or other hot pepper, diced (you decide if you want to seed it or not)
juice of 2 limes, or one lemon and one lime
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
salt to taste

Directions:
Combine everything in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate a couple of hours or overnight before serving.

NYT: Late Blight Fungus Threatens Tomato Crop

A highly contagious fungus that destroys tomato plants has quickly spread to nearly every state in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic, and the weather over the next week may determine whether the outbreak abates or whether tomato crops are ruined, according to federal and state agriculture officials.

Click the link to continue to the NY Times article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/nyregion/18tomatoes.html?scp=2&sq=tomatoes&st=cse#