This week your basket contains: carrots, spinach, BRUSSELS SPROUTS TOPS, beans, cucumber, tomatoes, sweet corn, red onions, and sweet peppers. 

Recent rains have started to kill back the pumpkin plants, so we are getting a good look at our production.  We’re happy to say that things look good for our PUMPKIN PICK-UP WEEKEND.  October 19^th and 20^th (11:00 to 3:00) are set aside for you to come out to the farm to choose your carving pumpkin (included as part of your subscription), tour the gardens, press apples for cider, have a potluck lunch and socialize with other subscribers.  We will be making pizza including our signature PUMPKIN PIE PIZZA (a perennial favorite).  We look forward to seeing you then.

Some varieties of spinach have not been responding well to the cool weather and rain.  We’ve decided to harvest the least well performing ones and erect a “caterpillar”-style temporary green house over the rest in hopes we’ll get better harvests later.  You can either use your spinach in salad or cooked with your BRUSSELS SPROUTS TOPS.

Brussels sprouts tops are much like collards or kale with a mild Brussels sprouts flavor.  We cut off the tops to encourage more even growth of the sprouts along the stalk (the lead growth point of plants put out a hormone that inhibit the growth of branches and leaves below it).  These two recipes would be great ways to use the Brussels sprouts tops and/or spinach in.

MIXED GREENS ENCHILADAS

2 Tbs. veg. oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 cups coarsely chopped greens

1 Tbs. butter

1 Tbs. flour

½ cup milk

½ cup grated cheddar cheese

6 corn tortillas

½ cup salsa

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Heat oil, sauté onion & garlic until golden.  Add greens in small amounts until cooked down.  In another pan, melt butter, stir in flour, add milk slowly and then cheese.  Stir until thick then mix into cooked greens.  Fill the tortillas, roll and place in a lightly oiled baking dish.  Spread salsa over and bake for 25 minutes, until edges of tortillas are crisp.  Adapted from The Cook’s Garden catalog.

UTICA GREENS

FOR THE OREGANATO:

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup bread crumbs

½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated

FOR THE GREENS:

1 1/4 pound greens mix

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 slices prosciutto cut roughly

4 to 6 hot cherry peppers (pickled or fresh), chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup + 2 Tbs Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated,

Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl and set aside.  Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, prepare the oreganato: Mix the oil, bread crumbs and cheese until well blended. It should have the texture of moist beach sand. Set aside.  When the water is boiling, blanch the greens until they are nearly limp but still a little firm, about 1 to 2 minutes. Plunge them into the ice bath to stop the cooking. Remove and drain them well in a colander or salad spinner, allowing them to remain moist but not dripping wet. Squeeze just a little of the moisture from them, then chop them into 2-inch pieces. Set aside.  Heat the broiler. Coat a large pan with the olive oil. Over medium heat, sauté the prosciutto, cherry peppers and garlic until the prosciutto is browned and slightly crisp, about 5 minutes. (Lower heat slightly if garlic begins to brown too quickly.) Add the chopped greens to the pan, season with salt and pepper and stir to mix well.  Add 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and 1/2 cup of the oreganato. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently to blend, scraping the bottom of the pan to keep the oreganato from burning. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup oreganato atop the greens. (Save leftover oreganato for use in another greens dish, or add it to baked chicken or shrimp.) Place the pan under the broiler and broil until the top browns, about 2 minutes. Remove from the broiler and sprinkle a bit more cheese on the dish. Serve immediately.