The Long Hungry Creek Current 8/27/07
How was the potluck?
At Jeff’s were baskets upon baskets of winter squashes. Varieties I’ve never heard of or seen before, plus plenty of the more common winter varieties. Prepare yourselves folks, for you will have to be creative to use all the squash that are coming in. I’ll try and help out by offering a variety of recipes.
Tomatoes are still going strong, but inevitably they will begin to taper off. Many of you have asked me what types we have been eating, so I asked Jeff. He provided me with a large list of tomatoes, many of which I have never heard of. Even Jeff is not sure which is which, but I thought you’d like to see the list anyway: Mule Team, Mortgage Lifter, Golden Jubilee, Bradley, San Marzano, St, Pierre, Thessalonika, Cherokee Purple, Delicious, Early Girl, Gurney Girl, Better Boy, Jetsetter, Celebrity, and one of Jeff’s own crosses.
Watermelons are still going as well, which made it the perfect food to greet people as they arrived. But we weren’t the only ones loving the watermelon, the Red Spotted Purples found it intoxicating. Gathering in dense groups, drinking the juice with their long curly proboscis, it was a sight to behold!
It was fun and the food was great. The temperature is usually a few degrees cooler up at the farm, and it turned out not to be such a hot day. It amazes me as you travel back toward Nashville how you can actually feel the temperature change.
Next time we will plan for a Saturday. With the heat, plus the biodynamic conference in September, I think we will wait until October for the next potluck. We’d love to see you there !
Annual biodynamic conference will be September 28-30, Women in Agriculture is the theme.
**Please Note- Next Monday is Labor Day, the CSA pick-up will take place on Tuesday, September 4th. It is CSA policy when a national holiday falls on Monday that we move our pick-up to Tuesday.
--Alan
Here are a few links that may interest you:
Learn about Labor Day- http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm
What is a Red Spotted Purple? http://tdpc02.fnal.gov/peterson/tom/Butterflies/RedSpottedPurple.html
Strange and wonderful watermelon recipes- http://www.watermelon.org/recipeDesserts.asp
The Harvest
Sweet Dumpling Squash, Spaghetti Squash, Watermelon, Peppers, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Leeks, Garlic Chives, Parsley, Basil
Meatless Stuffed Peppers
INGREDIENTS
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped, divided
* 4 tablespoons uncooked white rice
* 1 cup vegetable broth
* 1 pound firm tofu, crumbled
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
* 1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
* 2 eggs
* 1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
* 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
* 1 tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon paprika
* 6 green bell peppers
* 1 (8 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
* 1/4 cup wine
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute onions and 2 cloves of garlic until onions are translucent. Add rice and saute 2 minutes. Stir in vegetable broth, cover and cook until rice is done, about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine tofu, parsley, mushrooms, eggs, bread crumbs, walnuts, Worcestershire, soy sauce, paprika, and cooked rice.
4. Slice the tops off of the peppers; save tops. Core peppers and stuff with tofu mixture. Replace tops on peppers.
5. In a shallow baking dish combine tomatoes, wine, tomato paste and remaining garlic. Place peppers in dish and cover.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.
From: Melanie Zwoelfer
Squash Cornbread
Ingredients:
1 cup cooked winter squash
1 egg
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup yellow corn meal
Place squash in a blender or food processor. (You can also mash it as long as it's cooked well-this is great for leftovers) Beat the egg lightly and add to the squash in a large bowl. Add the other ingredients and mix lightly. Place the batter into a cast iron skillet or 9 inch square pan that has been coated with butter or margarine. Dot the batter with butter if you wish and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
From: Brenda Hyde at SeedsOfKnowledge.com
Sweet Dumpling Squash
While many people add maple syrup to acorn squash, the “meat” of the sweet dumpling requires nothing but roasting.
Cut squash in half, top to bottom. Scoop out seeds and save. Place cut side up in a roasting pan and cook at 400 until tender. Scoop out meat when cool enough to handle. Enjoy plain, or with butter, sat, and pepper.
Wash strings off of seeds (they don’t have to be perfect) and allow seeds to thoroughly dry. Once dry, mix seeds with your favorite spices and flavors. One of my favorites is Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast mixed thick to coat seeds. Spread seeds in a thin layer on parchment covered cookie sheet, and roast in a 225 oven until dry and crunchy. Makes a great, healthy snack.
