Hello Cecilia here with another update about eating food only from the farm (except for going
out for coffee and eating out with friends!). A major motivating factor for doing this was to
become more creative with, and connected to the food we have here. I have already started to
see necessity leading to creativity for me in the kitchen. This has definitely been true of the
way that I am using fats. I figured I would end up using more beef fat in my cooking without
access to butter, but I was pretty nervous about the prospect. I love cooking with lard, but I
really didn’t have much experience using tallow. Our abundance of olive oil from Saltonstall is
really a critical element in all of this, but sometimes olive oil just doesn’t cut it.
In the last couple months I have been making A LOT of bone broth. I have always felt unsure
about the best way to use the incredible fat cap that results from broth made with our bones. I
know it’s basically liquid gold, but using that much fat in my broth was really hard on my
stomach. I have now started to save these enormous chunks of fat flavored with onions and
green garlic and herbs and lots of chili powders (I put a lot of random stuff in my broth). Once
the fat cap solidifies in my fridge I break it up into chunks and save it in a jar. I have been frying
my secret stash of potatoes in ridiculous amounts of this fat. I can’t even really express how
delicious it is. If nothing else good comes from this farm food challenge, I now know that my
absolute favorite way to eat potatoes is fried in a cast iron skillet with fat from beef broth. This
feels like a huge win.
I am super excited about our first green garlic harvest this week. I will not be making this recipe
with ricotta unless a cheese fairy shows up at my house, but I hope that all of you do and tell
me how delicious it is!
Upcoming Farm Events: Potluck Friday 5/19 at 5:30 pm
CSA barn hours:
Summer hours: 2:30-6:30 pm (starts the week after daylight savings in March)
Winter: 2:30-6 pm (starts the week after daylight savings in November)
Pick List:
We are planting our first field crops this week! Still it will be a couple of months until the pick list starts increasing, usually around July 1st. We will do our best to keep a steady supply of spinach and lettuce from the tunnels.
Strawberries will be much later this year; the plants are just truly starting to grow. They may also be in limited amounts to start as we had many plants die in all the rain. However, I am confident there will be a time this summer when there is an abundance of strawberries.
Eggs
Cortland Yellow and Cabernet Red Onions (Last week of Cabernet)
Joan Rutabaga
Mars Celeriac
Finale Fennel
Green garlic
Parade Scallions
Prize Choi
Regiment Spinach
Lettuce Mix
Cilantro
Spaghetti Winter Squash
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!)
Revolution Bread: Fresh bread on Tuesday and Friday (Frozen bread available if we sell out.)
Open Field Farm 2023 | The "ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW" guide for members
Green Garlic, Chive, and Red Pepper Frittata, from nytimes.com
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut in small dice
2 bulbs green garlic, trimmed of stalks and papery layers, sliced
Salt
6 eggs
1 cup whole-milk ricotta
¼ cup minced or snipped chives
Freshly ground pepper
Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a heavy 10-inch nonstick skillet and add the bell pepper. Cook, stirring often, until it is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and salt to taste and cook, stirring often, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the ricotta, salt (about ½ teaspoon) and freshly ground pepper to taste. Stir in the chives and red pepper and garlic mixture. Clean and dry the pan and return to the burner, set on medium-high. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet. Hold your hand above it; it should feel hot. Drop a bit of egg into the pan, and if it sizzles and cooks at once, the pan is ready. Pour in the egg mixture. Swirl the pan to distribute the eggs and filling evenly over the surface. Shake the pan gently, tilting it slightly with one hand while lifting up the edges of the frittata with a spatula in your other hand, to let the eggs run underneath during the first few minutes of cooking.
Turn the heat down to low, cover and cook 10 minutes, shaking the pan gently every once in a while. From time to time remove the lid and loosen the bottom of the frittata with a wooden or heatproof spatula, tilting the pan, so that the bottom doesn’t burn. The eggs should be just about set on the bottom; cook a few minutes longer if they’re not.
Meanwhile, heat the broiler. Uncover the pan and place under the broiler, not too close to the heat, for 1 to 3 minutes, watching very carefully to make sure the top doesn’t burn (at most, it should brown very slightly and puff under the broiler). Remove from the heat, shake the pan to make sure the frittata isn’t sticking and allow it to cool for at least 5 minutes and for up to 15. Loosen the edges with a wooden or plastic spatula. Carefully slide from the pan onto a large round platter. Cut into wedges or into smaller bite-size diamonds.
Serve hot, warm, at room temperature or cold