Straight from the Farm

Heat waves on the weekend always push me to hunker down in the house with the air conditioning cranked up (or is that down? ) to 73 chilly degrees.  Pure bliss!  But hiding out from the heat has its potential drawbacks too.  For instance, Sunday evening rolled around and I started thinking about what to make for dinner.   Poking my nose into the fridge, I saw that I had a lot of stuff, but nothing in large quantities, save for a bag of lemon cucumbers picked out of the garden on Friday.  

As much as I love cucumbers, they’re not really a meal.  I started piling the mishmash of produce on the counter in an attempt to figure out a plan of action, one that would avoid stepping out the front door to go to the store.  When you sweat on the way down the deck stairs to get into the car, you know it’s too hot for a grocery run.

I pulled out a couple of plums left from a trip to Headhouse two weeks ago.  Next to them, I put down an onion that I literally picked up (off the ground) from a farm I visited in New Jersey last week.   Then came the bag of nasturtiums, starting to wilt just a bit.  The cucumbers, well, I’ve mentioned those already.  I rediscovered a little ziplock of grape tomatoes our neighbor so generously bestowed - so sweet and juicy.  And finally, there were a few leaves of Swiss chard I’d brought in from the container on the deck.  

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The third annual Philadelphia Urban Farm Bike Tour was another huge success, despite the undesirable heat wave that’s hit the city.  Nearly 100 riders braved the scorching weather to take a look at six urban agriculture projects, which included Weavers Way Farm, Martin Luther King High School Farm, Mill Creek Farm, Spring Gardens Community Garden, Teens4Good/Philly Orchird Project, and GreensGrow.  The ride finished with a well deserved pizza and beer party at the Philadelphia Brewing Company.  Thank you to all the riders who came out to participate - it was a blast meeting everyone and sharing our passion for urban farming!   Your generous donations will go to support these important projects! 

Here’s a slide show of the pictures I took.  Feel free to visit the Flickr page too.

Fresh string beans have literally started pouring into my door.  I planted only eight bush beans in my vegetable plot, but they’re exuberant in their production.  As such, I’m now scrambling to find interesting ways to prepare them (besides steamed or sautéed).  I went the not-so-healthy-route to kick off the bean season. 

No, that is not a basket of French fries in the picture above.  It’s a basket of beer-battered (yes, BEER battered) string beans.  No doubt, it’s criminal to turn such a nutritious vegetable into a fried snack food, but I loved ‘em!  Seriously, these were ridiculously addictive, especially with an extra sprinkle of course sea salt on them.  If I’d thought of it before inhaling nearly the whole basket, I would have even tried them with my favorite French fry condiment: vinegar!  I bet that’d send them over the top. 

As it was, I just heated up a little bit of marinara sauce to dip them in, although the original recipe (taken from a faded undated newspaper clipping) offered directions for making a special dip for on the side.  Me, I like to eat my beer-battered string beans while they’re piping hot so I couldn’t be bothered with spending time on the dipping sauce. 

Now that I’ve got the junk food bug out of my system (seriously, is there any healthful salvation in this dish since it did get me to eat two big handfuls of beans?), who’s got a good idea for using up a surplus of beans?  I don’t have enough yet to consider canning, so something fresh and interesting would be appreciated.  I know I’m the one that’s suppose to give YOU ideas on this site, but I’m lacking inspiration and hoping you’re holding some.  Yes? 

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OH, you wanted some commentary?  Mmmhmmm…

See this pie?  I’m too busy eating it to type right now. 

I’d apologize.  But I’m not really sorry…

Now if you’ll pardon me, it’s time to lick the plate! 

BERRY CHERRY PIE
Adapted from The Practical Encyclopedia of Baking

Filling:
2 C. pitted sour cherries
2 C. blueberries, rinsed and drained
1/2 C. white sugar
1/2 C. raw sugar
1/3 C. all-purpose flour
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 t. lemon juice
1 T. butter

Crust:
2 C. flour
1 t. salt
10 T. cold butter, cubed
¼ - ½ C. ice water
milk for glazing

For the crust, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl.  Add the butter and cut in with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles a coarse crumb.  Add just enough water to bind the dough, being careful not to overwork the dough.  Gather the dough into two balls and wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap.  Chill for at least 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling by mixing sugar, flour, nutmeg and cinnamon in large bowl. Add fruit and lemon juice and stir well. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough balls to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.  Roll the dough around the rolling pin and transfer to a 9 inch pie pan.  Trim the edge to leave about a ½ inch overhang.

Pour the prepared filling into the unbaked pie shell. Dot with the butter. Cover with the top crust and flute the edges. Cut small slits or cut shapes in the top as desired. Glaze with milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.  Place on a baking sheet (to catch any bubbling over).

Bake at 375 F for 1 hour or until golden.  Allow to cool before slicing. 

(serves 8 )

In the deluge of summer produce and the push for new and creative dishes (cooking straight from the farm requires taking real advantage of the growing season when it is at its best - i.e., right now), I sometimes forget how delicious and beautiful the simplest preparations can be.  This time, thanks to a stray comment from the farmer who was selling the two main ingredients for this recipe, I put on the brakes of my mental wheels and just left well enough alone. 

Garlic scapes are a very seasonal farmer’s market and/or kitchen garden find.  And, indeed, I was rather surprised to find them still at the Headhouse Market last weekend.  I usually sauté them or chop them up to stand-in as a more potent form of garlic.  But the farmer, who was responding to a curious shopper’s inquiry as to what these funny curly needles of green were, said he liked throwing them on the grill to char them.  “Interesting,” I thought, before scrunching up my nose when I remembered I don’t have a grill at the moment.  D’oh!

Have no fear, the toaster oven is here!  Yes, you read that right.  I, the woman with unreserved distain for toaster ovens, actually used one willingly and to great success.  I wanted high heat and the confined and easily visible cavity of the toaster oven worked like a charm.  If you’re not really into grilling on your toaster oven rack (gee, why not?), this method is no doubt easily transferable to a real grill. 

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