Market Menu August 2, 2014

Did you know that salsa has recently passed ketchup as the condiment of choice? We are starting to get a blush of red on a few tomatoes and should have some  fully ripe by next week. We have a few tomatillos, jalapeños and lots of cilantro. Can you
spell salsa?

Beautiful raspberries! Credit: Reed Petersen

Congratulations to Reed for his "best of show' at the Olmsted county fair last week with his Walla Walla Sweet onions. They are beautiful, and have amazing mild flavor. For those that like things a little zippier, we have Chipolini onions and sweet red onions.

Time to freeze or can beans. We will have 5 bushels of these amazing french filet beans. See Brian's post this week on how to freeze beans.

Our second crop of baby red and Yukon gold potatoes is starting this week. With the severe winter we managed to avoid Colorado potatoe beetles completely, so the potatoes this year are beautiful.

Andrea finished harvesting all the garlic this week so it is in the process of curing. We will bring some of the first heads again this week. Nothing like fresh garlic to note the peak of summer's fresh flavors.

The basil is really doing well and we will start to offer the gallon bags for the same price as lettuce this week.  Here is a post on 10 ways to use fresh basil.

We will have the following items at the Farmers Market for Saturday, August 2, 2014 (New items are in Bold Print)

What is a Tomatillo?

What is a tomatillo? We get asked all the time what a tomatillo is. They are not commonly grown this far north but you can find them in the produce section in most grocery stores. They are an interesting ingredient in a fresh salsa. They taste like a citrus flavored kiwi, but not so sweet. They are not hot and are very meaty.

They have a husk on the outside that is removed before chopping them up or cooking. They have a little sticky coating on the inside of the husk that can be washed off before use. They sprawl out a little more than the tomato plants and yield pretty good. They yield keeps doubling each week until frost as the plants are heavily branched. They are in the solenacia family the same as peppers and tomatoes.

This year because it was so dry and the tomatillos are about 1/2 mile from the house. I couldn't water. I noticed that plants started to drop their fruit. We got a rain about a week ago and they look like they are back on track.

The plants will reseed themselves the next year and you can thin them out and keep the biggest ones if you'd like. We move them around so don't usually do that.

You haven't had fresh salsa until you add in a couple of tomatillos. You can also make a vibrant green salsa using all tomatillos.

10 Reasons I Like Fall

My farmer dad says that fall is his favorite season. I think he said that because he finally got to harvest all the stuff he worked so hard to grow that year.

1) Salsa Freak - Tomatoes, Peppers and Onions (see our simple recipe)
2) Candy Carrots - The adage is frost on the pumpkins, but we like frost on the carrots.
3) Leeks, Onions and Shallots "Oh My"
4) Heirloom Tomatoes for BLT's
5) Watermelon - 15 varieties
6) Winter Squash
7) Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkins
8) Cool Weather
9) Planting Garlic
10) Fall Broccoli

Advice on Canning Tomatoes

Typically we would have canning tomatoes for another month. But don't wait to long this season to do your canning. Many tomato patches have blight this year and we haven't had a good rain in 3-4 weeks  and that means tomatoes will be in short supply.

We have a very good supply this week. But I expect that to taper off abruptly. Don't wait or you might not get the supply you need.

See my post earlier this week for directions on canning salsa.

A Simple Canned Salsa Recipe

I have canned about 250 pints of salsa so far this season. We have lots of tomatoes this time of year so let me share a very simple canned salsa recipe.

Ingredients:

15 pounds Roma tomatoes. Washed.
3 pounds Sweet onions (Walla Walla or Spanish) Peel off outer scales.
12 Jalapeno Peppers (cut the stems off and keep the seeds)
1 tablespoon of bottled lemon or lime juice (per pint)

Instructions:

Boil water in a water bath canner. Remove lids from 12 pint jars and put them in hot tap water. Put jars in boiling water for 15 minutes or more to sterilize. While jars are sterilizing. Core tomatoes and chop into 1/4 inch chunks with a food processor. Add to stock pot and cook on medium heat until boiling. Cut onions into quarters and pulse in the food processor into 1/4 inch chunks. Add to stock pot. Pulse jalapeno peppers into 1/8 inch chunks with seeds. Add to stock pot. Stir thoroughly and bring mix to a boil.

Take hot jars out of boiling water. Add 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice to pint jars. Use canning funnel to ladle hot salsa into the cars leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch head room at the top of the jar. Put lid and rings on the cars and place jars in the boiling water. Add additional water until the jars are covered by 1/2 to 1 inch boiling water. Bring canning vessel back to a boil. Boil for at least 15 minutes after boiling starts. I sometimes let it cook a little longer, this is OK to do with salsa as you are not trying to keep it crisp like you would be doing with pickles.

Remove jars after 15 minute and let cool to room temperate. Jars will keep up to a year. Label carefully.

I figure 1 jalapeno per jar is medium. 2-4 is hot. 6-8 is very hot.

I don't like to add cilantro or tomatillos to cooked salsa (love both with fresh salsa).

Garlic is a welcome addition. Green peppers is also OK. Anything that is not acidic needs to be added with caution. I add extra lime juice if using other ingredients. Corn can also be added.

Varying the tomatoes is one of the best ways to change the flavor. We use heirlooms, Romas and cherry tomatoes. I have also occasionally roasted the tomatoes.

I have found that simple is better.

We bring this salsa to market from late summer, through winter to the spring.

Squash Blossom Quesadillas

Squash blossoms are used in many different kinds of Mexican dishes. They are a natural for quesadillas. The make a double appearance in this recipe, first by including several raw squash blossoms and second by using some of the squash blossom salsa that is described in an earlier post. Both are very complimentary.

Ingredients:

8 squash blossoms
4 oz grated Mexican cheese blend, pepper jack or cheddar
4 medium tortillas
squash blossom salsa (see earlier post)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 F. On a cookie sheet make quesadilla one but adding two blossoms, 2 oz cheese and a table spoon of squash blossom salsa to the soft tortilla. Fold over. Create four quessadills total. Put in the oven for 5 minutes or until tortillas is crunchy.

Kick it up:

1. Use Habernaro cheese 
2. Add an additional Jalapeno to the squash blossom salsa.
3. Add some shredded beef or chicken to the quesadilla.
4. Add some fresh sweet corn to the salsa or quessadilla

10 Ways to Use Fresh Squash Blossoms

How do you use Squash Blossoms? let me count the ways. There are many creative ways to use this unique and healthy food. We have a great supply at the market.

"[above] is what a summer squash plant looks like that we harvest squash blossoms from."

 Photo: Reed Petersen

1. Stuffed with flavored cheese
2. Batter fried
3. Baked with your favorite sprinkle seasoning
4. Salsa
5. Pesto
6. Soup
7. Quesadillas
8. Pizza
9. Raw on Salads
10. Stuffed with shrimp

Bonus Ideas:

1. Fritters.
2. Hush Puppies
3. On sandwiches
4. Stuffed with Jalapenos
5. Stuffed with your favorite homade sausage

A Simple Fresh Salsa Recipe

A salsa kit contains all the vegetables that it takes to make a great salsa. Once the tomatoes start we offer this weekly. It can vary a little from week to week early in the season, don't worry about the exact proportions, about anything works. The kit typically contains the following:

• Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers
• Jalapeno
• Sweet Onions
• Tomatillo
• Garlic
• Cilantro
• Salt and Lime to Taste (not included)

We suggest you add salt and lime, but we don't grow those so they aren't included.

It would typically be about twice the cost to gather up all the ingredients separately so this is a pretty good deal. Makes 1.5 quarts of salsa.

A Simple Fresh Salsa Recipe

Instructions to assembly your salsa. It is easiest to use a food processor, but you can make salsa with just a sharp knife.

Chop up the garlic, cilantro and jalapeno first (if you want it hotter, leave the seeds in, otherwise remove the seeds). Add bell peppers, tomatillo and sweet onions and pulse the food process several times to chop. Cut tomatoes into quarters and pulse again to chop. If you want chunky only pulse a couple of times. If you want a smoother salsa, pulse a few more times.

Enjoy!

Kick it Up:

• Add some of Petersen's sweet corn, cut kernels off the ear (a great way to use up leftovers)
• Add black beans
• Add chipotles
• Add more Jalapenos
• Double the recipe size with your own tomatoes or buy some extra

Salsa

Salsa is a year round staple at our table. This a pretty unusual for a family that is nearly 100% Danish. We love fresh salsa with cilantro and all the fixings from August to October. We sell a fresh salsa kit at the farmers market where we include tomatoes, onions, peppers, cilantro and garlic for about half the cost it would take to buy each component separately.

This post is about the rest of the year and the canned salsa we made.  I had experimented with a number of recipes and fancy seasonings the previous year. They were OK but I thought we could do better.