Paisley Farm CSA blog

“Wow, it really snowed last night! Isn’t it wonderful?Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand new! 

A new year…a fresh clean start !It’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on! A day full of possibilities! It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy…let’s go exploring!” 

–Bill Watterson: It’s a Magical World: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection

If you’re in the city, you’re getting more than we are up here…but it’s a blustery snow day. Perfect for fire building… skiing… or cooking a big pot of beans if you still have them around! The easiest way to tackle this is to quick soak the beans, and then chop up all the veggies you have left around… making a great big pot of vegetable and bean soup or stew (depending on how hearty your selection ends up being.) 

Here is the best way to soak beans but for a quick soak, follow this process but only allow the beans to soak after the first boil for 1 to 2 hours:

Beans require a two step process of soaking and cooking. Soaking the beans allows the starches that cause gas to start to dissolve, while the cooking makes the beans tender and digestible. Most of the gas causing starches will be in the soaking water, so always drain the beans after a soak, and use clean water when cooking them. This can be used for any beans (except lentils and dried peas which do not require a soak,) and the cooking times will vary a bit by bean, as some take longer than others to become tender. 

According to the California Dry Bean Advisory Board, this is the best method for gas free beans: 

SOAK: Place 1 pound of dried beans (washed and sorted) in a 5 quart sauce pan with 10 or more cups of boiling water, and boil for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside overnight. By morning 70-90% of the indigestible sugars will be in soaking water. Drain and rinse beans thoroughly, then proceed with cooking. 

COOK:  Do not add acidic ingredients when cooking beans, or wait until the end of cooking to do so. These ingredients will stop the process by which beans absorb liquid and soften, causing a much slower cooking. Test doneness by pressing or mashing the beans in between two fingers, or with a fork. 

–Return the beans to the sauce pan, and cover with 3 times their volume in water. Add herbs or spices but no salt. 

–Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally. Do not boil the beans again, as this will cause the skins to rupture. Add more water if needed, and begin testing beans after about 45-60 minutes.

–Beans can be eaten right after cooking, or used in recipes, but you can also freeze beans for later use. (1 pound of beans will yield 5-6 cups cooked.)

Parsnip Soup

It’s creamy and leek filled. The recipe I looked at called for an apple, but I would much rather eat my apples so gosh darn I used all parsnips and it worked fine; especially with the sweetness of the parsnips from the share. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add 2 cups of prepared leeks (meaning you wash them well after cutting off the roots and dark green ends. Halve these lengthwise and thinly slice into half moon shapes.) Add the leeks and cook a 5 minutes.

Add 1 pound of parsnips (trimmed and cut into chunks)… you can add 2 apples peeled, cored and chopped if you like, but I just up-ed the parsnips and the butter (shh.)

SO add the parsnips, apple if using, and 1 medium potato peeled (1/2 pound) and cut into 1 inch cubes, and 1 can of chicken broth. (or homemade, 1-2 cups). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until vegetables are tender about 25 minutes. 

Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender (vented but covered) until all smooth and creamy. Return to pot and stir in 1/2 cup cream. Season to taste to salt and fresh cracked pepper.) 

*Save the leek bits for making stock.

In other news from upstate… 

It’s a beautiful saturday, mild temperatures and almost all the snow has melted. Deer still bounce around the lands and old fallen trees are being given new life as fire wood. The potatoes and butternut squash are not holding out as well for me, so I would say eat them now if you have not already. Hope you are all still finding great things to do with the black turtle beans…and enjoying the cheese fully!