By Alyssa
I spend more hours with the veggie crew than with any other person in my life, and we spend quite a lot of those hours talking with each other about every possible thing under the sun. On any given day, we might share some hot gossip, or talk about death and the meaning of life, or tell funny farm stories. I’ve learned the plot to many movies and TV shows that I will never watch. We learn each other’s values and beliefs, and the dreams we might have for our lives. We don’t always agree with or understand each other, but that is okay. That is something that I value, too. While we don’t always spend time together outside of work, the relationships I form with my fellow crew are some of the most important in my everyday life. They are also relationships that are always changing.
Crew turnover is a normal part of farming, and last week was Gemma and Sage’s last week on the farm. They are each moving on to new chapters in their lives, and we are just as excited for them as we’ll miss them. I feel so thankful to have had the opportunity to know and to work with them, and hope that they are setting off with nothing but good luck at their backs.
CSA Barn Hours:
Winter break: We are closed 12/25-12/29!
Winter hours: 2:30-6PM
Summer hours: 2:30-6:30PM (starts the week after daylight savings in March)
Pick List:
Eggs
Red Gold, La Ratte Fingerling, and Yellow Finn Potatoes
Cortland and Cabernet Red, Cipollini Sweet Onions, Monastrell Shallots
Leeks
Evergreen Hardy Scallions
Yaya carrots
Rhonda Beets
Purple Top Turnips
Purple Daikon and Watermelon Radish
Joan Rutabaga
Mars Celeriac
Hablange Parsnip
Kossack Kohlrabi
Primo and Caraflex Green and Ruby King Red Cabbage
Song Cauliflower and/or Covina Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Rosalba, Sugarloaf, and Castelfranco
Celery
Lettuce Mix (During the winter, when our tender crops are all coming from the tunnels, we only offer lettuce mix. We will not have lettuce heads until next summer. We hope to offer lettuce mix consistently until then.)
Red Russian Kale
Ruby Red Chard
Mei Qing Choi
Regiment Spinach
Cilantro (We should have parsley again in a few weeks. It is growing slowly in the tunnels.)
Winter Sweet Kabocha, Spaghetti, Acorn, Butternut, and Delicata Winter Squash
Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
Pick your own herbs, mostly in the herb circle (and maybe a few flowers)
New! Stoneground cornmeal from our dry corn! FYI: It does have large pieces of the outer skin in it which creates a different texture than the more uniform cornmeal. If you do not enjoy this, you can sift it with the right size screen. (Please BYO jars!)
Tea Blends (Please BYO jars!)
Whole Korean dried hot peppers and Ground Chile Peppers
Beef Bone Broth for sale again! (Made by Olla Products)
Saltonstall Olive Oil for sale (Please BYO jars!)
Revolution Bread will be on a break while Eli recovers from illness. We wish him a smooth recory!
Open Field Farm 2023 | The "ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW" guide for members
Chicken noodle soup (with a stewing hen), from smittenkitchen.com
From Alyssa: To use a stewing hen to make this recipe, I just cooked the hen with the broth ingredients on high in a pressure cooker for 90 min. Then I strained the broth, shredded the chicken, and proceeded with the recipe as written, though I made about twice as much.
You’ll want about 4 to 4 1/2 hours to make this in one afternoon. Or, you can break it up over two days or cooking periods by making the broth either on the stove in 2 to 3 hours or in a slow-cooker for longer (such as while you’re at work), at which point you’ll need just an hour to finish the soup, making it weeknight accessible.
If you’re a total heathen, as we sometimes are, you can use up to 12 ounces soup noodles here for recipe that will be almost more noodle than soup. But I recommend at least starting with the 9-ounce level before determining if overkill will be necessary.
Broth
2 medium-large yellow onions, unpeeled, halved or 1 large onion plus 1 large leek, cleaned and cut lengthwise
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed a little
1 large carrot
1 large parnsip (optional)
1 celery rib
4 quarts water
4 pounds chicken bones (from about two carcasses leftover from a roast or rotisserie) or a combination of fresh chicken wings (my first choice), backs, necks or feet
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
To Finish
3 bone-in skin-on chicken breast halves
2 large carrots, peeled and diced or 1 large carrot and 1 large parsnip, diced
1 large leek, trimmed and sliced into 1/2-inch segments
1 to 2 celery ribs, chopped or diced
9 ounces thin egg noodles or soup noodles of your choice
2 tablespoons finely-chopped flat-leaf parsley
Make the broth:
[On the stove] Combine all ingredients in a large (6 to 8 quart) stock pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a gentle simmer, skim any unpleasant looking foam (“skim the scum” is kitchen parlance for this step, but I’m trying to be polite) and cover with a lid. Simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
[In a slow-cooker] Combine all ingredients in a large (6 quart or larger) slow-cooker. Cook on LOW for 10 hours or HIGH for 5. Strain into a large pot (5.5 quarts or more) and let rest in the fridge until needed, or, if you’re finishing the soup right away, bring to a simmer on the stove.
Cook the chicken:
[Both methods] Add whole chicken breasts to simmering broth. Simmer for 20 minutes, until they’re cooked through, then strain broth [for stovetop method] or simply remove cooked chicken breasts [from the slow-cooker method] and set them aside. Taste broth, and adjust seasoning if needed.
Finish the soup:
Add diced vegetables to simmering broth on stove and cook for 5 minutes, until firm-tender. Add soup noodles and cook according to package instructions, usually 6 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, once chicken breasts are cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones and shred or chop into small chunks. Return chicken to soup and simmer for 2 minutes, until heated through. Finish with parsley and serve to some very lucky people.
To de-fat the broth: Once the broth portion is complete and the soup has settled a little, you can skim any fat that’s accumulated at the surface with a soup skimmer or spoon, to taste. If you’re going to chill the broth before finishing the soup another day, it’s easiest to take the fat off right before you use it; it will have solidified at the surface. P.S. Don’t toss it, please! It makes for wonderful matzo balls and fried latkes.