In the Kitchen

How to store this week’s box: Everything goes in to the refrigerator except the onions. Remove the tops from the radishes and store them separately if you think you might use them, or just discard. Remove the tops from the spinruts. Everything should go in loose plastic bags in your crisper drawer. Store the onions dark and cool and dry – not in the refrigerator.

We worked hard to get the Purple Radishes and the French Breakfast Radishes this week, managing to time their harvest for a steady drizzle that left he picking crew soaked to the bone. I’ve been excited about purple radishes for a long time, but consistently had a hard time finding a quality variety. This year, I stumbled on a new hybrid that seems to have done quite a nice job of producing a tasty crop. Spicier than the French Breakfast radishes, the purples have a good flavor that isn’t dominated by heat. I think this has as much to do with the cool spring and relatively consistent moisture we’ve been blessed with (a curse for tomatoes is a blessing for radishes, which is the nice thing about diversity, right?).

Radishes with Lemon Vinaigrette

1 bunch radishes
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp olive oil
generous salt and pepper

Slice the radishes pretty thinly, say 1/8 of an inch. Combine lemon juice, olive oil, and a generous pinch of salt and several grinds of black pepper in a small bowl, and whisk until emulsified. Toss in the radish slices, and toss until thoroughly coated. Chill for fifteen minutes or more before serving.

Those of you new to Rock Spring Farm may not have heard of Spinruts before. These white spring turnips originate in Japan, where they are traditionally grown in the spring, as we have done here. We harvested this crop from the greenhouse. In the second year that we sold these at the Rochester Farmers Market, a customer returned to our stand and informed us that if we continued to call them turnips, lots of good, deserving people would never try them; he suggested we call them spinruts, which is “turnips” spelled backwards. We never looked back. With a mild, sweet flavor, these bear only the slightest resemblance to their fall cousins. I often slice them to serve as crudités with dinner or lunch, but my favorite is to lightly steam them – don’t overcook, or they get a little mushy and less-than-perfect.

The turnip greens are delicious as well, and I especially enjoy them sautéed with a bit of soy sauce.

Lemony Spinrut Pickles

This recipe was given to us by another market customer taken with this delicious spring treat.

1 bunch spinruts, sliced 1/4-inch thick
Zest of one lemon
1 tsp salt

Mix lemon zest and salt. Arrange some of the spinruts in a single layer in the bottom of a non-reactive dish, sprinkle with lemon-salt mixture, and continue to layer spinruts and lemon-salt mixture. Cover, place in refrigerator for 4 hours or more, and serve.

I’ve never understood why Red Russian Kale is called a kale, since it’s the same species as turnips. Still, the flavor and texture is quite unlike kale’s hearty greenhouse or the spicy flavor and almost ethereal texture of turnip greens. Cut into thin ribbons, you can serve it as a salad.

Red Russian Kale with Pancetta

2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup diced pancetta
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bunch Red Russian kale, stemmed and chopped into 1-inch ribbons
1-1/2 cups chicken broth

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion and pancetta until the onion is translucent and the fat has rendered from the pancetta. Add the kale and toss to coat the leaves with oil. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until the leaves are tender, about 8 minutes. Raise the heat and boil, uncovered, until the pan is dry. Season with fresh ground pepper and serve.

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but we found a partial bin of Yellow Onions in pretty darned good condition as we were cleaning out the dry side of the cooler. I don’t expect them to store very well once they come out of refrigeration, so don’t hang on to them for too long, but they should store for a week or two just like you would in the fall, in a cool, dark place with low humidity. I like to cover them with a towel in the pantry, but they will also store well in a kitchen cupboard.

We are still harvesting Asparagus, and will continue to do so for another three weeks. I never get tired of it, although I might if we kept harvesting it forever. Almost every night, I lay a bunch out on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and cook in the oven under whatever else we’re having for dinner until it’s tender and delicious.

Our Baby Red Oak Lettuce didn’t size up as nicely as I wish it had for the last of these spring shares, so I selected the largest heads we have for this week’s box. Enjoy.