By AJ
This coming year, I (AJ) am going to be doing more work/collaborating with the sheep. I’m excited about getting to know them better. Sheep can instill a sense of majesty and expanse in me, despite the fact that their lineage of domesticity often gives people the impression of stupidity. But i’d wager they know their way around the world better than i.
I will be taking a poll about what products y’all would like to see coming from our versatile tunis sheep. So look for that in the near future.
I would like to leave you with a poem by my revered queers at QueerNature:
https://www.apocalypticecology.com/poetry/project-two-cjlkr
THE ECSTATIC LAMENT OF THE SHEPHERD
There is a time, out in the pasture,
(maybe dusk, maybe dawn,
one can’t be sure)
when the tide of this world goes out
and the Other-world washes in like a wave,
lapping rhythmically at the Shepherd’s feet.
Immersed in a green trance
she sees her soul shining back
in a single sheep’s eye.
With a Delphic smile
she remembers humankind is not the true shepherd,
but it is us—clan-hungry, earth-bound—
who become part of the flock that we tend.
transcending the boundaries of species
finding what is called ‘mammalian resonance.’
As we tend our sheep, it is our hearts and minds that are tended in return
like children dozing to an ancient lullaby.
For a time, inverting roles
Mother Earth submits herself to the shepherd.
Her rocks become bones and hooves,
her soil becomes wool and flesh,
her water becomes blood.
And for a time, we protect her
—the Dark Mother with her life-extinguishing embrace—
now she is the lamb.
She allows us to hold her
and our hearts break daily because we must slay what we love
while the Great Mother seems do to it with such ease.
For a short time
When we are shepherds
She gives us the great gift
of imitating her.
We are closed next week!
CSA barn hours:
Winter: 2:30-6 pm (starts the week after daylight savings in November)
Summer: 2:30-6:30 pm (starts the week after daylight savings in March)
Pick List:
Eggs
Red Gold, Yellow Finn, and La Ratte Fingerling Potatoes
Ailsa Sweet, Shallots, and Monastrell Red Onions
Garlic
Leeks
Rhonda Beets
Yaya Carrots
Joan Rutabaga
Hablange Parsnips
Mars Celeriac
Purple Top Turnips
Bora King Daikon and Watermelon Radish
Calypso Celery
Gypsy Broccoli
Primo and Caraflex Green Cabbage, Ruby King Red Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts
Kossack Kohlrabi
Finale Fennel
Escarole, Rosalba, and Sugarloaf
Bopak Pac Choy
Lacinato Kale
Ruby Red Chard
Lettuce
Parsley
Spaghetti, Butternut, Candystick Delicata, Tuffy Acorn, Tetsukabota Winter Squash, and Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
Sonora wheat flour and wheat berries
Herbal Tea Blends and Whole Dried Chile peppers (Please bring your own jars!)
Pick your own flowers and herbs
Saltonstall Olive Oil (Please bring your own jars!)
Focaccia Onion Board, from smittenkitchen.com
Serve this with anything you like on a bagel, a cream cheese board, or just a schmear of salted butter. Note on an update: Based on feedback from comments, I’m suggesting you line your pan with parchment paper for easier removal.
3 cups (390 grams) flour
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon (3 grams) instant yeast
1 1/2 cups (355 grams) lukewarm water
Olive oil
2 large yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and instant yeast. Add the water and use a spoon, rubber spatula or a dough whisk [I have this one], mix until the water is absorbed and a shaggy, sticky dough is formed. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled at room temperature for 1 3/4 to 2 hours. Alternatively, you can let it rise in the fridge overnight for 8 to 10 hours.
Meanwhile, prepare your onions: Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once hot, add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Once the oil is heated, add the onions and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook onions, stirring every minute or two, until a medium brown, almost caramel colored, about 25 minutes. [See Note at end.] Scrape onions onto a plate to cool while you finish the bread.
Finish the focaccia: When the dough is doubled, line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper and drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over it. Do not deflate your dough, just scrape it onto the oiled parchment. Drizzle the top of the dough with another tablespoon of olive oil and use your fingers to dimple the dough, flattening it out. It’s okay if it doesn’t reach the edges. Let the dimpled dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes and heat your oven to 425°F. After 15 minutes, dimple the dough only where needed a little further into the corners. Let rest for a final 15 minutes before scattering the top with onions, poppy seeds, and a few pinches of salt.
Bake the focaccia: For 25 minutes, until deeply golden brown at the edges and across the top. While it bakes, you can prepare any toppings you’d like to serve it with, such as cream cheese or butter, lox, thinly sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, or capers.
To serve: Loosen the focaccia if it’s stuck in any place and slide it into a cutting board. Cut into 12 squares, using a sharp knife to get through the onions on top without pulling them off, and replacing any that scatter. Eat right away.
Do ahead: Focaccia keeps at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. Reheat on a baking sheet at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes.
Note: These are not caramelized onions; we do not need 60 to 90 minutes over low heat with constant stirring. That is not how any ancestor of mine cooked onions. I’m intentionally using a higher heat for more quickly developed flavor. If they’re not picking up color by 20 minutes, bump up the heat slightly. If they’re coloring too fast to make it to 20 to 25 minutes, reduce the heat. We want to stopping shy of a dark bronzed color, as the onions will finish in the oven and we don’t want them to burn.