HARVEST #15

A collection of preparation suggestions for the harvests of Wildwood Farms (website here). Laurels CSA newsletter page, with harvest notes and photos, can be accessed here. Bon appetit!

POBLANO & ANAHEIM

From a vegetarian organic blog comes a short primer on chiles (Poblano, Pasilla, Anaheim or Ancho):Recipes often call for different kinds of peppers -including poblano, pasilla and ancho or even Anaheim peppers -- which serve entirely different roles in cooking. Though poblano and ancho are the same pepper, one is fresh and the other dried. One can be stuffed and the other cannot. And their flavors and textures are completely different. Poblanos are fresh, dark green chili peppers with a distinct flavor and aroma. They're not spicy, but darker ones tend to be spicier. These peppers have a medium length and taper from top to bottom. They are not as wide as bell peppers or as skinny as Anaheim peppers.Ancho peppers are dried poblano chili peppers. They neither look nor taste like fresh poblano peppers. Ancho peppers, when mature, turn dark red and, when dried, take on a dark, reddish brown color. Pasilla peppers are dried chilaca chili peppers, which in their fresh form are dark green, but when dried turn dark brown or blackish. Both fresh and dried forms are spicy hot. If you feel adventurous enough to stuff your poblanos, they are a prime size and shape for it and there are many ways to succeed -- this recipe for Stuffed Poblano Chili Peppers came from a blogger whod pursued grilled, stuffed chile perfection and decided that "under-cooking the rice absorbs the excess moisture from black beans, sour cream, cotija cheese, tomatoes, and scallions, forming a cohesive filling with a pleasing, creamy texture which plays nicely with the fruity poblano." Another "stuffed" recipe idea relies on the oven instead of the grill, and incorporates chicken and tomatoes instead of black beans and rice--also sounds and looks delicious (Chicken Stuffed Poblano Chiles).

I like to keep things simple, and I think the chiles would be delicious grilled on their own, with maybe just a little Cotija or other Mexican cheese tucked inside at the end, and this method could be used for the mild, longer, skinnier Anaheims (below) as well as Poblanos. Anaheims are often used in chile relleno recipes. Rellenos are delicious, but a perhaps less-involved way to obtain similar taste satisfaction is to chop up the chiles, roasted and peeled or fresh, and add them to scrambled eggs with a little cheese on top. Both of these chiles are also great in pico de gallo, and honestly, when you have a CSA brimming with tomatoes, onions, garlic and chiles, the thing is fairly screaming "!SALSA!" - the only thing missing is cilantro, or whatever you prefer as a favorite ingredient. Here, as a guideline, is a recipe from Emeril Llagasse, make substitutions at will.

EGGPLANT, TOMATOES, FENNEL FRONDS

.and farro! I thought I would include this Grilled Eggplant Salad video since you'll be re-stocked with cherry tomatoes this week, and it combined flavors of some of the other produce Laurel has been delivering. Once again, substitutions are encouraged... there's a reason certain vegetables ripen at the same time -- usually, they'll taste great together no matter how you combine them. For example, in this recipe. perhaps Laurel's Yukon potatoes could be substituted for the faro or the eggplant; sweet onion for the red onion; and fennel fronds for the suggested dill. Still trying to figure out how kohlrabi might make an appearance here

PAK CHOI
I really liked this UK website because it's clean and straightforward, nothing too complicated here (vegbox recipes). Keep scrolling below the general information to get to the recipe for Garlic and Ginger Pak Choi (nothing more to it than those three ingredients, plus sesame oil). Scroll down even further for links to more recipes. And remember, Laurel likes bok choy on the grill -- try it, its fun!

KOHLRABI
I knew it! I knew there would be good ways to combine kohlrabi and bok choy (I can't help it, I use that name interchangeably with Pak Choi) here's a link to a stirfry, Bok Choy, Carrots, Kohlrabi and Ginger (no photo). Another comes from a blogger doing the same thing we are: grabbing local produce that ripens at the same time and going from his garden to his kitchen to whip up some dinner, in this case: Kohlrabi-Bok Choy-Tofu Stirfry. And, last but not least, in the recipe pictured, kohlrabi is cooked and

combined with pears and feta into a Greek Style Kohlrabi Salad. I'm thinking raw might be just as delicious.

SUMMER SQUASH
Not on this week's delivery list, I know, but if you happen to have some left over from last week's share, you can make something special. We did this at home, and it was delicious. This is another creation of Eric Ripert's, and the link takes you to a short video demonstration. Instead of the toaster oven, we did ours in the oven on a cookie sheet. We didn't have Parmesan, so left that off, but balsamic is a nice touch. Zucchini Carpaccio with Parmesan & Balsamic sounds super-fancy, but really it just depends on a sharp knife or a mandoline. As the chef says, Summer brings plenty of fresh seasonal vegetables, including beautiful green zucchini, also called summer squash, or courgettes. When they are in season and fresh, very little is needed to make them delicious.

Until next time

love, Teresa