Kretschmann Farm June 16, 2009
257 Zeigler Rd., Rochester, PA 15074 (724)452-7189
don@kretschmannfarm.com www.kretschmannfarm.com
Greetings from the Kretschmanns,
Things are starting to tame down a bit now. But, it’s been a little hairy the last few weeks because we have added several new people to the crew, just as we were shifting gears anyway to start the new season. But we’ve got a great crew this season.
Spinach as far as the eye can see! Hope you have enjoyed this crop which is especially abundant this year. If it looks like it’s getting ahead of you, one can always steam it, stuff it in a Ziploc bag and freeze. This makes great spinach balls, dips, and filo spinach cups in the off season. One day, the weather will turn hot and it will all be over until the fall… Enjoy it while it’s here.
We thank you for all the patience you’ve had with us these first weeks of the season. It’s a difficult time because we’re setting up new stops and routes, training new drivers and farm help, and bringing new subscribers up to speed. It’s been a little harder this year because there’s been an explosion of interest in locally grown foods. We’ve been inundated with phone calls and e-mails. This makes it doubly hard to screen through for important messages from subscribers. Please help us keep our sanity by: 1. Leaving your account name and stop letters with your message [we post these at the top of correspondence so you can just hit “reply” and we’ll see it right away.] 2. Try to include in the subject line the reason for the note so we can quickly get to our most important messages. Eg. “missed veggie box”, “cheese order”, strawberry flat….. Using our subject line sometimes does this automatically…”Extra Strawberries” 3. When responding to one of our messages via “Reply”, try not to include other messages because it takes us off the task at hand of organizing the responses. Just send another message.
For those who missed the trial week, we have some extra cheeses right now. There’s goat chevre and raw milk cheddar@ $6/half pound; and lesher @7.50/half pound , and raw milk camembert@ $10/ half pound wheel.
Hoping you enjoy the berries and other treats of this special time of the season, we are, sincerely,
Don, Becky, & The Kretschmann Crew
Pasta with Fresh Spinach, Walnuts, and Gorgonzola Saute 2-3 garlic scapes in 1 tbs olive oil, add 3/4-1 lb. chopped spinach. Toss and cook until wilted. Stir in 1/4 lb. sweet walnut pieces* and 6 oz. crumbled Gorgonzola. Toss until well mixed. Season with pepper and serve over pasta. (*Sweet walnuts: mix 1 c.chopped walnuts well with ¼ c. corn syrup and ¼ c brown sugar. Spread on cookie sheet and bake @ 350 deg. about 10 min. until crisped. Cool.
Spinach Dip: 1# spinach, 1tbls. Olive oil, 1/2c finely chopped onion or garlic scapes; 1 ½ c plain yogurt or sour cream, 2tbls.lemon juice. Steam spinach over medium heat until wilted, squeeze out extra liquid, chop coarsely. Heat oil over med heat. Add onion or scapes, cook till translucent. Whisk yogurt, lemon. Stir in spinach, onion, salt, pepper. May be refrigerated for 6 hours.
Caesar Salad Dressing: Blend ½ c. lemon juice, 2 tsp. Cider vinegar, tsp. honey, 2/3 c. olive oil, ½ c. romano/parmesan cheese, ¼ tsp. thyme leaves, 2 oz. Salted anchovies.
Risotto with Swiss Chard and Winter Herbs Saute in 2 tbs. olive oil and 1 tbs butter 1 bunch Swiss Chard cut into strips without stalks, 1 small diced onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tbs. chopped rosemary leaves, and 1 tbs. chopped sage leaves, 3 tbs chopped parsley. Cook over low heat 10 min. Bring 6 c. chicken of vegetable broth to boil. Add 2 cups rice to Chard/Herb mixture and stir until rice is coated with oil, about 2 min. Add enough broth to just cover the rice, let cook, stirring often until the broth is absorbed. Add more broth, just enough to cover the rice, again stirring often until broth is absorbed. Continue until the rice is al dente and the risotto is creamy and liquid. Salt to taste. Stir in 1 tbs butter and grind a little pepper on top. Serve with Parmesan cheese if desired.
Veggie ID: The crazy ropey looking stems are garlic scapes. These are the tender seed shoots of the garlic plant. Use them anywhere you would use garlic. But it’s lots simpler—just chop up and sauté in olive oil to add to greens, spinach, meats… http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/18appe.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Extra Orders: Strawberries $30/ 8 qt. flat; Seven Grain bread--$4
Cheese Orders: Beginning the week of July 7-11, every second week of the month we’ll start delivering cheeses. We’ll have Sam & Suzy Byler’s goat cheeses—plain chevre and feta. Also Adam Dean’s raw cow’s milk cheeses—Cheddar, baby Swiss, Colby, Jack, Pepper Jack, and Camebert. Let us know what you’d like to get every month. All cheeses are @$6.00/half pound except Camebert which is $10/half pound.