Paisley Farm CSA blog

This is my one of my favorite recipes for collards. It takes a little extra effort, but it’s worth it. Made it last week alongside some fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and pecan pie ice cream. So good!

Note: Although the recipe calls for 3 bunches of collards, you may use 1-3 bunches, adjusting only the water.

Sneaky Collards

From The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt and Ted Lee, highly recommended

Ingredients:
* 8 cups water
* 3 dried chili peppers
* 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
* 3 3/4 pounds (about 72 leaves or 3 bunches) collard greens
* 1 large onion, trimmed and quartered
* 1 large tomato, cored, seeded and quartered
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
* 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3 cloves unpeeled garlic

Directions:
In a large stockpot, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the chili peppers and 1 tablespoon salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes, or until the stock has a nice salty spiciness.

Wash the collard greens thoroughly to remove all grit, and remove/discard the ribs. Add a few handfuls of collard greens to the pot. Submerge them with a spoon and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until they have turned bright green. As they become more compact, add more greens and repeat the process until they are all submerged, cooking for 6 to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, uncovered, and make a note of what time it is.

Preheat the broiler, set an oven rack about 3 inches from its heat and have ready a cast-iron skillet.

While the greens are cooking, place the onion and tomato quarters in a medium bowl. Drizzle olive oil and vinegar over them; add 1 teaspoon salt, the paprika and the pepper, and toss to coat evenly. Transfer the vegetables to a medium cast-iron skillet and add the garlic. Broil the vegetables for 6 to 8 minutes until they are well charred. Set the skillet on the stovetop to cool.

Discard the garlic cloves’ charred papery peels and place the garlic in a food processor, along with the charred vegetables and their juices. Puree for 3 minutes or until quite smooth. (You should have 1 1/2 cups puree.) Using a ladle, remove 6 cups of stock from the collards pot (that will be just about all the liquid that is left; discard or save for later use). Add the puree and continue to cook the greens over lowest heat for 1 hour from the point at which you noted the time. The greens will be tender and a very dark matte green.

Use a slotted spoon to divide among individual plates, and serve with a hot pepper sauce or homemade vinegar sauce at the table.

Doesn’t that sound exotic? Gorin Delicata Squash!

[good luck finding a cultural connection to this recipe ]

*Rinse the outside of the squash (the weird looking green striped squash that is deliciously sweet inside). Do not peel.

*Cut in half, length wise, scoop out seeds (discard OR set aside for Roger’s Salty Seeds: recipe below)

*Place in a flat oven dish with a thin layer of olive oil–face Down,

*Bake in oven at about 350 degrees until squash softens (approximately 15 mins or more). Stick a fork through the skin to test for softness.

*No other seasoning is necessary. This squash is sweet and super tasty on it’s own!

*If you won’t feel right without adding a little something, use a pat of butter and/or dash of salt.

Hate to waste the seeds? Try Roger’s Salty Seeds:

Dear Paisley Farm CSA members,

I would like thank every one for their support this season. The summer of 2009 will be remembered for a long time. The challenges we faced this summer are like no other. Mother Nature has reminded us who is really in charge. The rain and cool temperatures have humbled many a farmer from Kentucky to Maine. Our farm lies in two counties, Colombia and Dutchess, and both have been declared agricultural disaster areas by the governor. It’s hard to keep an optimistic view on things with so many days of rain and so few nice days to get the work done - and then on top of that be officially declared a disaster.

Our CSA has kept us going from day to day. The produce that you have received is the result of hard work and the plants’ ability to withstand the season’s harsh conditions. Failures this season are too numerous to describe but are all related to the bad weather and scheduling needs of our short growing season here in the Hudson Valley. Every season I have dreams of what we will grow and harvest but never have I been so disappointed.

Diversity has always been the key to survival; the vegetables you have received represent about half of what we attempted to grow. I hope our members understand what we have gone through this year and can appreciate what we have achieved given the circumstances. I have been talking to other farmers and feel lucky compared to the loses they have seen. We will survive thanks to your support and understanding.

The good news is that the rain has stopped and we have plenty planted. Soon we will have radishes, turnips, cabbage and winter squash. We will be harvesting more potatoes and leeks throughout. We are also planning to have a harvest party soon and will combine this with a garlic planting event. I’m sorry for not communicating in the past weeks but I have looking for some positive things to report on. Lately, the weather has been great - we hope you all can attend the harvest party!

Yours truly,
Michael Kokas
Paisley Farm

A couple of nuggets I thought might be of interest…

+ Paisley Farm is featured in Saveur!

+ For anyone interested in attending a supper club and learning more about Slow Food, check out The New Deal.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the veggies and back to school!

I don’t think I’m the only one who feels like the summer has completely FLOWN by, but it’s happened. These last few days of summer (with it’s AMAZING weather) call for celebration. And what better way to celebrate than with those gorgeous tomatoes we’ve been getting? I highly recommend this recipe for Pasta With Marinated Tomatoes and Summer Herbs, which is delicious both hot and cold. And while you’re at it, why not whip up a cocktail? It makes perfect sense. Sit back. Relax.