The Weekly Share

The fall crops are starting to come in.  You will see a big difference between these two share pick-ups!  Last week’s share, #14, contained:

1 lb. potatoes

5 Swiss chard

1 box tomatoes

8 sprigs basil (I think)

2 eggplant

10 oz. beans

1 jalepeno pepper

1 hot pepper

2 onions

1 garlic

2 sweet peppers

1 handful parsley

1 cabbage

1 cucumber

1 zucchini

It’s still a lot of produce, but wait until you see this week’s share (#15):

3 edamame stalks

1 lb. potatoes

2 sweet peppers

1 garlic

1 jalepeno pepper

2 hot peppers

1 tomatillo

2 onions

1 squash

1 handful parsley

8 oz. beans

1 box raspberries

1 bunch broccoli

8 sprigs basil

2 leeks

1 lb. sweet potatoes

(up to) 10 okra

Whew!  Look at all of that food!  Now, what should I do with it?  I have a pile of potatoes in the basement.  And onions and garlic on the kitchen counter.  And bags full of beans in the fridge!  The potatoes, onions, and garlic will keep – and I use some of them each week.  Most of the beans will probably be blanched and frozen.  I have hot peppers to freeze, as well.  I will blanche, puree and freeze the last of the tomatoes, too.  We always eat the cucumbers and sweet peppers raw, as snacks and with meals.  I used the Swiss chard in place of spinach in a recipe last week.  I made a squash saute last night, using the zucchini and eggplant from last week, the Swiss chard stems (also from last week), a red onion, and  some garlic.  Mmmm-Mmmm!  I used the parsley and some share potatoes for parsley-buttered potatoes last week.  I steamed the edamame tonight and popped the seeds out of the pods.  I added some to our salads.  Yummy!

I made my own coleslaw using the cabbage and a carrot.  It turned out OK.  I used the same sauce I use on store-bought coleslaw mix, but it didn’t have as much flavor.  Anybody know why?

I plan to steam the broccoli and the beans with dinners this week.  I will fry up the okra in butter, just to see how it tastes.  I think I’ll make the summer chowder again – the weather is starting to turn and I love soup on blustery days!  I am looking forward to all of the root vegetables that will soon appear in our share!  Mmmm – comfort food!

We are getting LOTS of tomatoes from share each week, plus our garden plants are starting to produce.  We’ve harvested a few ripe tomatoes in the last week, and there are lots and lots of green tomatoes, just waiting to all turn red at the same time!  Here is a great basic recipe for fresh tomato sauce.  It is easily adaptable to the ingredients you have on hand, and – VERY IMPORTANT – it freezes well!

Here is the recipe:

• 10 ripe tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used a yellow pepper because I didn’t have  green)
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I didn’t use this, but I did add parsley, onion powder and Old Bay – my secret ingredient to everything!)
• 1/4 cup Burgundy wine (I didn’t add this, either!)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (I did not add this as I wanted to use all fresh vegetables)

I tripled the recipe to use all of my tomatoes and I also added 1 zucchini (shredded), and 1 yellow squash (shredded).  I like that this recipe does not call for 40 lbs. of tomatoes like some canning recipes I have seen!

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop 8 tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor. Chop remaining two tomatoes and set aside.
2. In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in chopped tomato, basil, Italian seasoning and wine. Place bay leaf and whole celery stalks in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer an additional 2 hours. Discard bay leaf and celery and serve.

I blanched the tomatoes and pureed them last week, then froze them until I was ready to make the sauce.  After 2 hours of simmering it, I did NOT add the paste, but instead just took the cover off and simmered it for 3 more hours to reduce it.  It is still a little thinner than I like it, but I think I can thicken it up as I use it.  I used it for a baked rotini recipe last night and it was delicious and just the right consistency.

Mine sauce looks more orange than red because I used a yellow pepper instead of green and some of the tomatoes I used were yellow.  I think the zucchini and yellow squash washed out the color, too.  BUT the important thing is that I used what I had and it tasted good!  Which is good because I have SOOOOO much of it!

Our garden is exploding with cucumbers!  We love cucumbers in our house, but we are a bit overwhelmed.  I plan to make pickles when the next round is ready.  I have used our current abundance to make cucumber salad.  It is absolutely delicious, and SO easy!  I made an extra batch to give to my in-laws as a “thanks for watching the kids until Dave got home from work while I was out of town this week” gift.