The Real Dirt on Farmer John

The film The Real Dirt on Farmer John is opening across the Country... and it’s coming home to Chicago again!

The Real Dirt on Farmer John will turn every idea you ever had about what it means to be an American farmer, or an American dreamer, on its head. Meet Farmer John, the incredible human being whose inspirational story of revolutionizing his family farm and redeeming his own life has won accolades and awards at film festivals around the world.

Click here to watch the trailer... And go see the movie at The Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 North State St, Chicago, IL 60601
August 4th, 3:30pm
August 12th, 3:00pm
August 18th, 3:30pm

Eggplant Caviar

Recipes are like playing the telephone game – one person gets a recipe from a cookbook, they add their own twist and they pass it along to a friend. That friend changes an ingredient here and there, then gives it to their sister. She makes her version and on it goes. That’s what is great about cooking – recipes are constantly evolving and changing to suit the needs and tastes of the individual cook. You can put your unique stamp on a dish and call it your own.

Eggplant Caviar started with a recipe from Tom Coliccio’s book Think Like a Chef. Josh Kulp, chef at Sunday Dinner, adapted Tom’s recipe to create a party dip. I tasted Josh’s version and recreated it in my kitchen and created the version that you’re seeing here.

And if you’re wondering about the name, Tom Coliccio called his original recipe “Eggplant Caviar”. Recently, I was reading up on eggplant and various ways to prepare it, and found out that the name “Baba Ghanoush” translates to “Poor Man’s Caviar”, which I’m assuming was the inspiration for the name of Tom’s recipe.

Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Eggplant Caviar

Mexican Grilled Corn

You can’t go wrong with simply boiling or grilling fresh sweet corn and topping it off with butter and a shake of salt & pepper. But sometimes you want a little more oomph out of your corn and this recipe delivers. Mexican Grilled Corn is savory, smoky and sweet. Each topping adds it’s own layer of flavor to the mix: the mayonnaise mixture is creamy and rich; lime adds a splash of fresh, tangy bite; and parmesan adds the salty finish.

Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Mexican Grilled Corn

Farm Dinner to Benefit Angelic Organics Learning Center

The talented chef’s of Sunday Dinner are hosting a dinner on August 11, 2007, at the Angelic Organics Farm. It has been a dream of theirs to host a dinner on the farm, right at the source of all the goodness that is local, sustainable and seasonal food!

You’ll dine next to the abundant fields at Angelic Organics for a truly local meal. Come early for a personal tour of the farm, then enjoy your dinner under the stars (weather permitting). Continue the fun at the evening bonfire.

Profits from the ticket sales will go to the Angelic Organics Learning Center, which “empowers people to create sustainable communities of soils, plants, animals and people through educational, creative, and experiential programs offered in partnership with Angelic Organics, a vibrant Biodynamic community supported farm.”

The menu features produce, dairy and honey from the farm and the learning center: Chilled Sweet Corn Soup with Peeke Toe Crab • Fried Green Zebra Tomatoes with House-made Fresh Mozzarella • Ratatouille • Roasted Chicken with House-made Sausage, Braised Greens, and Olive Oil Crushed Potatoes • Goat’s Milk Yogurt Panna Cotta with Blackberries and Honey

With only 40 seats available, this event will sell out quickly! Tickets are $100 (BYOB) and must be purchased in advance to secure your reservation. For more information and to purchase your tickets, visit www.learngrowconnect.org/farmdinner.

box no. 07 | contents

• Lettuce
• Oregeno
• Sweet Corn
• Watermelon
• Peppers
• Eggplant
• Summer Squash
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Tomatoes
• Sweet Onions
• Beets
  

Summer is flying by. I can’t believe we have sweet corn already! It seems like only a couple weeks ago we were eating spring vegetables. Now we’re just at the beginning of the influx of tomatoes, sweet corn and green peppers. And then there’s the watermelon! I love watermelon and I can’t wait to see if mine is red or yellow. On the menu for tonight is skirt steak fajitas with grilled onions and peppers and grilled sweet corn prepared mexican-style with mayonnaise, lime and grated cheese. Stay tuned this week for a great eggplant dip recipe to serve with pita chips.

A special thanks to Angelic Organics for promoting my blog in the current newsletter. Welcome to all the new readers – I hope you enjoy what you see and read. Please feel free to leave feedback and comments; I look forward to hearing from you. ~ Jen

Click here to download a pdf of the Angelic Organics Farm News for box no. 07.

Zucchini Bread with a Twist

Last summer I heard a story that summed up zucchini and the problem that plagues all of us: in a small town where people didn’t have to lock their car or house doors, during high zucchini season, people would literally dump bags of them in unsuspecting neighbors’ cars just to get rid of them. Technically, this is probably a “crime”, but a harmless enough one. In any case, it illustrates just how overwhelming it can be to deal with the shear amount of zucchini that a garden (or CSA vegetable box!) can produce.

So what to do?!? When you’re in over your head with zucchini, bake it into bread. I started with a base recipe for a nine-inch loaf and added different flavorings. You can go the savory & sweet Indian route with Curry, Ginger & Raisins. Or try a more decadent version with Macadamia Nuts & Toasted Coconut. And for a fresh, seasonal variation how about Fresh Mint & Lemon. The possibilities are endless as long as you start with a great base recipe and market- or box-fresh zucchini. Experiment and have fun!


Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Zucchini Bread

Mediterranean Menu

Last night we celebrated the flavors of summer and enjoyed the beautiful weather with a wonderful Mediterranean meal. On the menu: Tzatziki Sauce and hummus served with homemade toasted pita chips and a Mediterranean Couscous Salad.

I love to make these simple pita chips – they’re a snap to make and they’re better than any bagged variety you can buy at the store.

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using store bought pocket pitas, cut each pita into 6 wedges. Separate the layers of the wedges (now you will have 12 chips) and place rough-side-up on a baking sheet. Continue until you have filled the pan. Spray or brush the chips with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in a 375 degree oven, on a rack set near the top, for 7 to 10 minutes – watching them carefully – until they are golden brown around the edges. Cool and serve.

Don’t feel constrained by just salt and pepper. You could add garlic powder, cayenne or chili pepper for some kick, curry powder or any kind of seasoned salt.

The couscous salad is equally as easy and tasty. As with all of the recipes from Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country, they have been tested and retested until they have created the perfect recipe that yields the best results.

Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

box no. 06 | contents

• Lettuce
• Mesclun Mix
  
• Basil
• Parsley
• Red Cabbage
• Green Pepper
  
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
  
• Sweet Onions
  
• Garlic
• Swiss Chard
  

I get spoiled in the summer and fall months by Farmer John’s garlic. The dried garlic you buy in the store can’t even begin to compete with fresh heads of garlic. There’s no hint of bitterness. No inner green sprout popping up when the head gets too old. It’s pure garlic flavor and I never let one, single clove go to waste.

We’re still knee-deep in cucumber and zucchini season. I think it’s about time I make a couple batches of zucchini muffins and pop them in the freezer for when we’re not so burnt out on them! As for the cucumber, I’m still making Tzatziki Sauce once a week and I serve it with homemade toasted pita chips* (*look for an upcoming post for the recipe).

Click here to download a pdf of the Angelic Organics Farm News for box no. 06.

Cauliflower Gratin with Rosemary, Grey Poupon and Parmesan Cheese

I came across this recipe a few months ago and I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to create it with cauliflower from my CSA box. The recipe calls for two heads of cauliflower and since I’m a little behind from my busy last week, I had enough for the recipe.

The results were delicious. The flavors of this dish work very well together without masking the taste of the cauliflower. This is a recipe that will definitely go into the “make again” pile. Many thanks to West Town Tavern for posting this recipe on their website:

Cauliflower Gratin with Rosemary, Grey Poupon and Parmesan Cheese

Note: the recipe does not call for a specific amount of salt or pepper, but I found that this dish needs a lot of seasoning – more than you would think. Season the cream sauce well before combining with the cauliflower. Remember, the cauliflower itself does not have any seasoning (with the exception of the small amount of salt it will pick up from the boiling water), so when the sauce combines with the cauliflower, it needs to make up for the unseasoned ingredients that you are adding.

Photo copyright West Town Tavern

box no. 05 | contents

• Lettuce
• Beets
• Young Turnips
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
  
• Summer Squash
• Cucumbers
• Sweet Onions
  
• Scallions
• Eggplant
• Sage
• Tetragonia
  

Last week was a crazy week and, unfortunately, not a lot of vegetable cooking happened. So, not only do I have to catch up on my blogging, I have quite a few vegetables left from last week to work into our meals! Fortunately, I was able to off-load some cucumbers and zucchini on friends and neighbors. The upside is that now I have enough cauliflower to make a Cauliflower Gratin with Rosemary, Grey Poupon and Parmesan Cheese – a recipe that I came across on West Town Tavern’s website.

Click here to download a pdf of the Angelic Organics Farm News for box no. 05.

Book ’n Cook | Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

As promised, I tested the Lee Bros.’ recipe for pickled scallions. Even though I’m not very familiar with pickling or canning (although I hope to change that over the course of this summer), the process went smoothly by simply following the recipe’s thorough directions. The pickled scallions turned out well – slightly tart and the pickling takes the edge off the scallion’s allium flavor. You could chop them and add the pickled scallions to egg salad. You could slice them and top a roast beef sandwich. Or simply add them to an antipasti platter along with other pickled vegetables, olives, salami and cheese.

As for the book, I think the Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, by Matt and Ted Lee, is worth the read just for the Pickles, Relishes and Preserves sections. A few recipes that might appeal to fellow shareholders: Jerusalem Artichoke Relish, Hot Pepper Jelly and Pickled Corn. But the rest of the book is also valuable and a great read. The pages are peppered with anecdotes, back stories and, of course, classic Southern recipes.

Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Pickled Scallions
Adapted from
Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt and Ted Lee

box no. 04 | contents

• Lettuce
• Mesclun Mix
• Young Turnips
• Radishes
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
  
• Summer Squash
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
  
• Scallions
• Parsley
• Basil
  

The smell of fresh basil is intoxicating. I used to think that it was overpowering, but now I have come to love basil. Making pesto is one of my favorite things to do when I have a large abundance of it. I also like to make homemade basil aioli for BLT sandwiches – it adds a really nice extra flavor to an already near-perfect sandwich. And I just read an article in the latest issue of Gourmet magazine with a recipe for Lemon-Basil Simple Syrup that can then be used to make lemonade or a twist on the classic gimlet cocktail. Stay tuned this week for a book ’n cook post on Pickled Scallions, a recipe from the The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook, and a Broccoli Pasta Salad with Peanut Sauce from my own recipe box.

Click here to download a pdf of the Angelic Organics Farm News for box no. 04.

Cool Cucumbers

Cucumbers are cool for a number of reasons. Quite literally, they make great mini cold packs for tired, puffy eyes. And adding a few slices of fresh cucumber to a pitcher of ice water imparts a nice, fresh, clean flavor. But did you also know that cucumber peels are a natural ant repellent? They don’t destroy them, but the ants don’t like the smell of cucumbers. Place them in and around your kitchen or wherever you have ants. You’ll need to keep renewing the peels because these lose their effectiveness as they dry out.

And if you don’t happen to have an ant problem and you would rather eat your cucumbers, here’s a great and easy recipe for Tzatziki Sauce. You can serve this cool, tangy dip with pita, crackers, fresh veggies or grilled kebabs.


Click here to download and print a pdf of this recipe:

Tzatziki Sauce

Viva La Local

Local food is the hot topic these days, but hopefully not a quick trend that comes and goes. As shareholders of Angelic Organics, we automatically cook with local vegetables – at least for half the year. But trying to cook with all local ingredients is a challenge – fruit, cheese, meat, grains... One blogger took on this challenge and convinced over 100 other bloggers to join in.

Liz from Pocket Farm recently kicked off the second year of One Local Summer – a project where you are challenged to prepare one entirely local meal each week of the summer. The response was overwhelming this year; 110 people signed up and each week they submit their meal details. If you’re interested in following the project, visit onelocalsummer.blogspot.com.

But what’s the big deal about eating local anyway, you might ask. Lucky us, a fellow blogger at Eat Local Challenge has answered that question in her post “10 Reasons to Eat Local Food”. Here’s a quick cheat sheet:

• Eating local means more for the local economy
• Locally grown produce is fresher
• Local food just plain tastes better
• Locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen
• Eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic
• Buying local food keeps us in touch with the seasons
• Buying locally grown food is fodder for a wonderful story
• Eating local protects us from bio-terrorism
• Local food translates to more variety
• Supporting local providers supports responsible land development

Zucchini, Summer Squash & Fennel Salad

This simple salad is made exactly how it looks – thinly sliced zucchini, summer squash and fennel dressed with lemon, olive oil, salt, pepper and crumbled feta cheese. It couldn’t be easier and it tastes delicious, light and fresh.


ZUCCHINI, SUMMER SQUASH & FENNEL SALAD

The easiest way to slice the vegetables into thin ribbons is with a mandoline. I purchased mine from Whole Foods for about $24.95 – much cheaper than the stainless steel professional models and it works like a charm.

Slice the zucchini, summer squash and fennel on the thinnest setting (or approximately 1/8"). For the dressing, combine equal parts lemon juice and olive oil; add salt and pepper to taste. Toss dressing with vegetables and refrigerate for at least one hour. Before serving, top with crumbled Greek-style feta cheese and freshly ground black pepper.