In the Kitchen

When you get this box home, leave the tomatoes out of the refrigerator. I put mine on the kitchen counter out of direct sunlight. Everything else goes into the fridge, in bags. Take the tops off of the carrots before you store them.

We pulled our first crop of Carrots out of the ground this week. The first crop of carrots provides a nice marker for the progression of the summer. We like carrots with their tops on because they look neat, and some people use the tops in stock or for juicing, but it is important to remove the tops before you store the carrots in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Subsequent crops look nice, as well.

Of all the crops to love, carrots have my heart, but the Greenhouse Cucumbers we grow run a close second. The seeds we use to grow these seedless and skinless beauties can cost up to one dollar each, but they are worth every penny. This special greenhouse variety has been bred to produce fruits without pollination, so they never develop seeds; they’ve also been bred to never produce a male flower (cucumbers have separate male and female flowers, as do all of the members of the squash family), and we don’t grow any other cucumbers on the farm, so seeds are pretty much impossible here. In addition, this variety has been bred to have a very thin skin, so much so that we think of them as skinless; outdoors, they would get banged up, but in the coddled environment of the greenhouse, they don’t need a protective outside layer. Just slice and enjoy!

The long, cool spring (it seems a little like spring is continuing on here…) made for a nice, albeit late, crop of Romaine Lettuce. With its thick leaves and crunchy ribs, romaine holds up well to heavy dressings. Personally, I love the nutty flavor of romaine above all other lettuces.

No-Egg Caesar Dressing

3 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, chopped (or, substitute 2 scallions)
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
2/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste.

Combine the lemon juice, garlic, vinegar, and anchovy paste in a small bowl, and whisk well. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking until smooth. Add the pepper and salt. Dress torn romaine leaves right before serving.

This week’s Thyme comes from a new planting, and it may be slightly dirtier than we would like. We prefer not to wash fresh herbs because it causes the flavor to deteriorate; give it a quick rinse just before you use it.

Watching the cool weather continue this spring, we decided to plant an extra crop of Red Russian Kale, which thrives in this sort of weather. Kale ranks highest among the vegetables in its concentrations of the yellow-orange pigments that evolved to help protect its tissues against the harmful effects of excess solar radiation; it is believed that these carotenoids have the same protective properties on the human eye, protecting against cataracts and macular degeneration. And, eating a variety of vegetables with high amounts of these carotenoids is more beneficial than taking the same carotenoids in a supplement form, so you can think of Rock Spring Farm as a sort of Rock Spring Pharmacy.

Braised Red Russian Kale

Red Russian kale, stems removed
Salt as needed
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 dried small red chile
2 garlic cloves thinly sliced
1/4 cup chicken stock or water

Coarsely chop the kale leaves and blanch them in boiling salted water, about 3 minutes, then drain. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat and add the onion, rosemary and chile. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. When the onion is translucent and starting to color, 3 to 5 minutes, add the kale. Cook the kale over medium-low heat for 20 min. or so, stirring often. The kale will turn a deep, almost black color, become soft and then almost a little crisp. Add salt to taste. If the greens get too dry during the cooking, stir in a little stock or water. Serve over rice or as a side.

This year’s first crop of Broccoli is a little spotty. The downright cold weather we had just after we set them out in the field induced about half of the crop to skip making nice heads and just go straight to flower, so we have a smaller-than-anticipated harvest. Subsequent crops look quite nice.

Tomatoes continue to edge into production, and everybody should get either some Sungold Cherry Tomatoes or some Round Red Tomatoes from the greenhouse this week. Harvests are steadily picking up.