This week your basket contains: potatoes, carrots, garlic, cabbage, beets, celeriac, and onions 

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The onset of what looks like will be two weeks of low temperatures in the low 20’s and upper teens has kept us quite busy.  While we expect much of what we still have in the garden to survive these kinds of temperatures, the number of days and the fact that the high temperatures will all be above freezing (a freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw cycle can be damaging) has us a bit on edge.  In addition to harvesting for today and Friday (we usually harvest twice a week not once) we have been spending time covering some of the more susceptible crops with frost protection fabric.  This light, woven material traps air around the plants and creates a surface for frost to form on (instead of the frost forming on the plant itself).  This warming effect is even greater if the fabric is wet as water gives off heat as it freezes.  All of this is to say, in part, that we would have liked to include a cooking greens mix in this basket, but we chose to cover the greens rather than harvest so that we would have them going forward into the spring.

This has been a great year for beets.  This is a great recipe.  If you shop at New Seasons, they have heirloom navel oranges that are excellent in any way, but are particularly good in this recipe.

BEET AND ORANGE SALSA

1 medium beetroot (100g in total)

1 medium orange

1 small lemon, halved width ways

30g pitted Kalamata olives, quartered lengthways

½ small red onion, finely chopped (40g in total)

15g chopped flat-leaf parsley

½ tsp coriander seeds, toasted and crushed

¾ tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed

½ tsp sweet paprika

½ tsp chilli flakes

1 tbsp hazelnut or walnut oil

Salt

Boil the beetroot in plenty of water for about 20 minutes (they may take much longer, depending on the variety), until a skewer goes in smoothly. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, peel, then cut into 5mm dice and place in a bowl.  Peel the orange and one lemon half, making sure you remove all the outer pith, then cut them into quarters.  Remove the middle pith and any seeds, and cut the flesh into 5mm dice. Add to the beetroot bowl, along with the olives, red onion and parsley. In a separate bowl, mix the spices, the juice of the remaining lemon half and the nut oil. Pour this on to the beetroot and orange mix, stir and season with salt to taste. It’s best to let the salsa to stand at room temperature for at least 10 minutes, to allow the flavours to mingle.  From Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi

EASY STRUDEL QUICHE

2 Tbs vegetable oil

3 cups chopped onions

7-8 cups chopped cabbage

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp dried dill

1tsp salt

black pepper

8 oz cream cheese, cubed

1 1/2 c. grated hard cheese

1 egg

1 9-inch pie crust

Saute onions in oil until translucent.  Add the cabbage, caraway, dill, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently until the cabbage is limp and both cabbage and onions are begining to brown.  Light browning gives a sweeter, richer flavor.  Remove from heat and drain any excess liquid.  In a large bowl, mix cream cheese and grated cheeses (we prefer smoked cheddar) with sautéed vegetables.  Add egg and mix well.  Put mixture into pie crust and bake in 350 degree oven for approx. 45 minutes or until golden brown.

CZECH FRIED CELERIAC

2 large celeriacs

1/4 cup vinegar

2/3 cup flour

1 egg lightly beaten

1 cup bread crumbs

1 cup canola oil for frying

Clean and peel celeriac: slice into pieces about 3/4 inch thick.  Simmer in salted water with vinegar 2 to 5 minutes.  Drain and pat dry.  Dip in flour, egg, and then bread crumbs.  Meanwhile, heat oil, then fry celeriac until golden brown.  Serve warm.  From The Cook’s Garden seed catalog.