T17-2

That's what they called these potatoes during development at Cornell...betcha didn't know that!

After last week's delicious potatoes, I was thrilled to find more in this week's share. This week it's a potato I wasn't familiar with: Adirondack red potatoes. The info sheet we received described them as pink inside. Pink! Inside!

You all know I love potatoes, but I made myself hold off on these until a good bit of the rest of the share was eaten. Gerry and I talked about what to do with them and decided to go for basic baked potatoes. I didn't want to do anything to alter the color.

Wow! I was surprised by just how pink they were inside! Ger said he was surprised that a red potato baked so well, but later I found out that these are classified as all purpose potatoes and baking is one of the things they do well. We both loved the results. They had wonderful texture and flavor, and the skin is very, very thin. Mmm.

The three we have left are on the menu for tonight, although I'm not sure how we're going to cook them. Any suggestions?

Two (and even Three) Against One

For my next challenge, I went up against two at once: mizuna and tat soi. In case you haven't already noticed, Gerry does all the cooking around here. He's having a chaotic week, so my first taste of both greens was in the form of a salad. My first taste also happened to occur at work, so I had to refrain from making any hideous faces or spitting anything out.

Ger had tasted the greens as he was making the salad and declared them "very mild." No way in the world would I, with my virgin taste buds, agree with that assessment! To me, they were both pretty strong tastes when taken alone, but combined with the other things in the salad, it was fine. No grimaces, no tongue curling. And I ate the flowers! I don't think I've ever eaten a flower before.

I had more of the salad this afternoon, but tonight I told Gerry it was time to try this stuff cooked. He sauteed some of the mizuna, the tat soi, AND the baby bok choy for dinner.

It's true! It does mellow out when you cook it!

Some more (maybe too much) picky eater info: Besides adding some color, having the carrots in there was a big help to me, because they were something I was familiar with. The weirdest thing for me about the sauteed greens was the feel of them when I chewed. I'm not used to biting into something and not having it just snap. But now I know what to expect, so that's good. And look...we ate the whole thing!

Mizuna and Tat Soi, Say What?

Why I didn't just look in the bag while I was still at the farm, I don't know. No, instead, I waited until I was driving home, then I decided I had to know, immediately, what we got. I pulled out the paper and started reading. "Mizuna? Tat soi? Oh my, what is THAT?" I became so absorbed in thinking this over, that I drove right past my turn and didn't even notice until I was a good two or three miles down the wrong road. (It's okay--turns out I found a pretty good new route.)

So, what are mizuna and tat soi? According to my handy paper, mizuna is "a versatile Japanese mustard green [with] little yellow blossoms which are edible." Hmm. Tat soi "has crisp spoon-shaped leaves and sweet, crunchy stalks [and] is also known as Chinese flat cabbage."

The mizuna is on top, with the jagged, pointy leaves, and the tat soi is on the bottom.

I've read some more about them both on the internet. I found mizuna described as sweet, earthy, tangy, mild, and peppery. One website, Harvest to Table, said, "You can toss young mizuna leaves—which are mild tasting--in a mixed salad. Larger leaves—which can have a mustardy or bitter-green tang--are best cooked briefly." A cookbook I have from the library, How to Eat Supper, includes "A Taste Guide to Salad Greens," and classifies baby mizuna under "Standouts but Not Overpowering," while it puts mature mizuna in the "Greens with Punch or Bite" category.

Purple Basil

The purple basil in this week's share looked so pretty and smelled so good, I used it as a centerpiece on the dining room table.

Someone decided the focus should be on her, however.

For more information about purple basil, click here.

Where Cucumbers Come From

Remember those delicious cucumbers I was going on about last week? I saw them growing in the greenhouse today, so I had a few words with them. "Hello, cucumbers," I said. "You guys sure are crisp and cool and flavorful. Keep on producing; you're doing a great job!" I think I saw them responding. See what you think.

Mmm, look at that baby. I'll probably be eating it next week!

2nd Week's Share

Gosh, this picture came out badly! I'll post better close-ups of everything as we try things!

asparagus

baby bok choy

mizuna

tat soi

cucumbers

red adirondack potatoes

green onions

purple basil

Roast Asparagus

What's the trick to delicious roast asparagus? We attempted it tonight, and it was less than delicious. I actually preferred the steamed stuff from the other night. Ger said he put some olive oil and garlic on it, which sounded pretty good in theory, but in reality it was very bland and kind of slimy. Blech! I ate my share anyway, and this time I liked the tips better, because they were at least sort of crunchy.

Alas, tonight I bid adieu to the potatoes. There was one left, so I had hashbrowns. They aren't very photogenic, but let me assure you, they were DELICIOUS!


That's some of the famous no-knead bread on the side. If you somehow missed hearing about that, there's an explanation on my other blog. We are addicted to that stuff!

--grin--

It always makes me happy to see Gerry chopping potatoes.

Ah, oven fries! Crispy outside, creamy inside, and seasoned with fresh rosemary and dill. I guess good things come to those who eat asparagus!

Susan vs. Asparagus

Out of everything we received in our first share, the asparagus is what had me the most worried. When we saw it, Gerry's reaction was "Great! Asparagus!" My reaction was more like "Crap. I have to eat ASPARAGUS? Already?"

But I promised I'd try it all, so try it I did. Gerry steamed it and had it all cut up in small pieces with plenty of butter.


Reaction? Upon taking the first bite, my first thought was, "It tastes like corn or popcorn or something." That might have been the butter. After a bit of chewing, when I actually tasted asparagus, it was a little weird for me. That was one of the tips. So next I tried some of the stem, and I was a lot more into that. I'm not quite an asparagus fan yet, but I will keep at it. Next time I think I want less butter, though. It was awfully rich.

Gerry on the other hand declared it the best asparagus he ever had!

Lunch

This first batch of vegetables hasn't been too intimidating. So far, I've had three salads like the one above, and Gerry has had two (with some mahi mahi thrown on top). That about does it for the deer tongue and speckled lettuce, but we still have a huge bag of spinach left. I am continuing to marvel at how good the cucumbers are. Ger was going to try the quick dill cucumbers recipe below, but now I won't let him, because I want to eat them plain!

Quick Dill Cucumbers

2 cukes, washed and sliced thin
2 sprigs finely chopped fresh dill
2 scallions, thinly sliced
salt, pepper
rice wine vinegar

Combine all ingredients except the vinegar in a bowl and toss until mixed. Add enough vinegar to coat. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

He thought it sounded good, but I'm not ready for rice wine vinegar yet! Sorry, those cukes are mine!

Coming Clean

I need to do one thing before I go any further with this blog: I have to explain about myself and vegetables. I've been struggling with how to explain this, so bear with me. Basically, I don't eat vegetables. Well, I eat potatoes and corn on the cob, and every so often I'll eat a few carrots, but if it's green? You get the picture. Part of the reason my husband and I joined a CSA is so I'll learn to eat more vegetables. The combination of the stuff being really fresh, straight from the farm, prepaid, and pretty much handed to us every week seems like it might do the trick. In any event, I'm willing to try. So when you see me talking about trying things, understand that it sort of goes beyond picky. I've been this way for forty years! What I've vowed is to try EVERYTHING. Some things aren't too intimidating, but there are some things I'm dreading (like beets). There is going to be some easing into things. I don't promise that everything I eat will be healthy. But this is my first step.

First Eat

I had to go to work immediately after picking up the goods, so I asked Gerry to whip something up and bring it to me for dinner. He came back with a salad made with spinach, the two varieties of lettuce, green onions, and cucumber. (He also added some carrots we had at home.)
















No, I didn't eat all of this!

Week One Share

Today was the big day! V (for vegetable) Day! Our first pick up!

All the bags were lined up waiting for pick ups, one for each share, and the whole room smelled like basil. We couldn't wait to see what was in our bag!

one pound of asparagus

a lovely big bag of spinach

four cucumbers

deer tongue lettuce

speckled lettuce

two pounds of new red potatoes

one bunch of green onions

and an herb sampler, including basil, thyme, rosemary, dill, and mint