Thursday, November 11, 2010

Purple Peacock and Tres Fine

From SHF CSA


Today's share is similar to Monday's but there are a few variations. First, we're substituting the purple peacock broccoli for the kale that was in Monday's share. I'm not a huge broccoli fan, but this broccoli kale cross is really tasty and the variations in the color and shape are beautiful, with cut leaves, and everything from deep purple, to green, to white. I'm hoping we'll continue to harvest side shoots occasionally from this unique broccoli.

We also ran short on the sugarloaf so some of you are getting the tres fine frisée instead. We do have more sugarloaf planted, but it wasn't quite ready. The rodents are loving the chicories, so it's a bit of a race to get to them first but with a little luck we'll have those in a few weeks. The photo below is the frisée, with the finely cut leaves, next to the immature sugarloaf.

From SHF CSA


We have them covered with floating row cover to protect them from the deer (who also love them) but it actually creates haven for the rodents. Actually the canopy is so dense they don't need much more shelter. The cover also helps prevent frost damage, not that it's actually been that cold in the fields yet.

2 comments:

  1. For anyone interested in a Sugarloaf recipe, I have an Italian friend who gave this to me...


    Chicory Risotto

    10 ½ ounces Chicory (or radicchio if you can’t find it)
    3 ¼ Cups Chicken stock (or vegetable if you prefer)
    1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
    4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
    2 Tbl Butter
    2 Tbl Olive Oil
    10 ½ ounces Risotto Rice
    4 ounces Red Wine (I prefer a merlot, but you can use whatever you want)
    5 oz grated Parmesan cheese (grate a little more for serving at the table)
    Salt and Pepper
    Fresh Chopped Parsley (about a cup loose)


    Peel Chicory leaves cut a V shape so that the light greens are separated from the white ribbed middle. Chop light green into 1”X 1” squares; Slice the white part into ½ “ strips and set aside.

    In a separate pan; sauté white parts in 1Tbl butter until soft and set aside.

    Bring stock to a boil and lower heat to keep it at a simmer.
    On medium heat, slowly fry the onion and garlic in 1Tbl butter and all of the olive oil. When soft, add the rice, and the outer green leaves of the chicory and the red wine.
    Allow to bubble up and evaporate the wine.
    Repeat evaporation as you add a ladleful of broth at a time while stirring constantly.

    Just before the rice reaches the al dente stage (15-20 min), add the white center strips to the risotto. Cook for another 3-5 minutes so the rice is still al dente.

    Take off the heat, add parmesan, salt and pepper to taste. Let it rest covered for 5 minutes or so. Present on a platter or on a bowl, and liberally toss on the chopped parsley.

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  2. That sounds amazing. Thanks so much for posting that. Also, a tip on risotto, about 12 years ago I bought a new pressure cooker with a book by Lorna Sass (Complete Vegetarian Kitchen) which let me in on the no stir method of making risotto. With a pressure cooker you can just toss all of the arborio rice in and all of the cooking liquid, lock the lid in place, bring it to high pressure for five minutes and then quick release and it's to the point where you would mix in the chicory. The texture is a little looser but it works amazingly well.

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