June is one of those months where all the different farm tasks come together and everything has to be done right now. The harvest is in full swing, with vegetables and berries ripening quickly and needing to be picked and sold. The weeds are also growing in leaps and bounds, requiring hoeing and tractor cultivating to keep them from overwhelming the crops. Meanwhile seeding and planting has to happen for the fall crops or we’ll miss the window for those. And everything needs to be kept watered and monitored for pest and disease problems.
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Tapenade is a caper and olive paste that comes from Provence, France. The word comes from “tapeno”, the Provencal word for caper. This paste is extremely versatile, being used for things like crostini for appetizers, a topping on grilled salmon, and marinade for roast chicken, lamb, or beef. Use it as a quick pasta sauce, on pizza, or even spoon a dollop into tired leftover soup to add some zip.
Use either black or green olives, oil-cured or brined. Oil-cured are easier to work with (if pitting the olives yourself), but brined can produce a great impact, too. Traditionally, tapenade is made with anchovies. I don’t usually use them but the recipe includes that option.
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Tossing the fennel and carrot into the cold water helps to crisp them up. If you cannot shave the summer squash really thin, a little salt will help tenderize the squash so it won’t break. Using a Ben-Riner or mandolin is best for this recipe. When shaving the carrots and squash, shave it super fine, but you want to have complete slices, not raggedy looking partial slices.
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You can make this using store bought tapenade or you can go ahead and make your own if you like. It is fairly easy, keeps a long time, and is a very versatile treasure to have in the refrigerator. Use it for everything from a sandwich smear to marinade for meat and fish, as a pizza topper or for quick starters on crostini with tuna or a bit of cheese.
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Outside of the early problems we had with red lettuce aphids, we have had very light insect pressure so far this season. The cabbage aphids, which were so bad last year that we had to disc in several plantings before harvest, have only appeared in a few areas and in light numbers. And I have yet to see a single flee beetle this year.
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This salad is about contrasts; of flavors, of textures, colors, and if you are quick enough, you can even work contrasting temperatures into the salad. Escarole and radicchio are both bitter, but the roasted beets with their marination of balsamic vinegar provide a sweet contrast. If you wait to grill the radicchio until just before dressing the salad you can even get a contrast between the hot red radicchio and the rest of the salad which is served cool, or even cold. Radicchio can be quite bitter, but grilling it mitigates much of the bitterness. To step this salad up, check the options in the ingredients. The use of avocado or a creamy blue cheese, or adding romaine lettuce will mitigate the bitter elements further and will contrast nicely with the crunchy elements.
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This dressing was made to go with the Salad of Grilled Radicchio, Escarole, and Roasted Beets, where the creamy sweetness will tame the assertive bitterness of the chicories. Try this with peppery greens like rocket and cress, or use for a cold pasta salad with broccoli or rapini.
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The “Hasselback” in the title refers to a restaurant that came up with a famous potato dish of the same name. The technique is applied here to carrots, and then another twist is added. The technique involves slicing the potatoes, or carrots, thinly across the width without going all the way through, so the vegetable stays whole. The easiest way to do this is to get a pair or disposable bamboo or wood chopsticks and place one on either side of the vegetable you are cutting. Then, when you slice down, you have a built in brake so you don’t cut through. For this recipe, you want very thick carrots for the desired effect.
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The summer weather pattern has taken hold here. While those of you who are inland a bit are feeling significant heat, we are enjoying our cool foggy mornings in the 50s with warming into the high 60s or mid 70s mid afternoon. Much of what we grow really loves this weather, we don’t need to water as much, and it’s easier to work outside in the cool weather than hot, so we don’t mind. But be prepared if you come out for the u-pick this Saturday with a sweatshirt and long pants.
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This basic dressing uses lemon juice bolstered with vinegar for acid. The vinegar adds balance to the lemon juice, which can sometimes be harsh, especially when combined with a sharp Tuscan style extra-virgin olive oil. If your lemons are really tart, you could use all lemon juice. You can also use water to lower the acidity if you do not want to use a vinegar.
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Soba is a Japanese buckwheat noodle that is like a squared off perciatelli noodle. Although it is served hot, it is probably best known as a cold preparation. Here is a twist on that dish with summer squash and carrots replacing the noodles. Soba is typically dipped into a soy-based sauce that is seasoned based on the weather. Sweeter when it is cold, ginger grated into it when it is hot out. Green onions and sesame seeds almost always. Here the dish is a little different than the traditional. It is dressed lightly with a variant of a Japanese dressing that is used with vegetable salads, and then has the dipping sauce that is traditional with soba as well. Both sauces keep well and have a myriad of uses. You want to use the middle comb of a Ben-Riner for this dish.
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This does not use as much oil as a standard vinaigrette nor the Japanese Style Sesame Dressing v.1, and is closer to a traditional sanbaizu (three-taste) dressing. This version was concocted for a “soba” made with threads of summer squash standing in for soba noodles. It is quite good on cucumbers or a “slaw” of savoy cabbage with grated carrots and slivered mei-quin choi. For sesame oil, I favor Kadoya brand for its pure clean flavor and aroma. If you can find it, try the Black Sesame seed oil for a deeper flavor. Using a blender for this dressing makes it a snap, although shaking it up in a quart jar with a tight fitting lid is good too.
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The basic version of this would be to simply lay down a circle of beets, and then pile a mound of diced avocado in the center of the circle, and then dress it with the dressing of your choice. To make it fancy, use a ring mold to form the beet circle on the plate, and then a smaller one centered in the beets for the avocado. From there, this combination splinters into so many variations. Adding different lettuces changes the tone of the salad. Using cilantro takes it to the Southwest or to Mexico. Switch to arugula with almonds or pistachios for something different, but where the nuts and avocado complement each other. Utilizing shrimp will add another dimension as well. This recipe is just a door way to ideas. Step through.
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This does not use as much oil as a standard vinaigrette, so is much lighter. Excellent on cucumbers or a “slaw” of savoy or nappa cabbage with grated carrots. For sesame oil, I favor Kadoya brand for its pure clean flavor and aroma. If you can find it, try the Black Sesame seed oil for a deeper flavor. Using a blender for this dressing makes it a snap, although shaking it up in a quart jar with a tight fitting lid is good too.
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These quick pickled beets can be seasoned with whatever herbs or spices will suit your palate or recipe. For this recipe, the quickling solution is heated up and the beets lightly cook in it while absorbing the flavors. Use these in salads, sandwiches, and as a side to a main course.
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Things have cooled off greatly since the hot spell that we had a couple weeks back, but its effects are still evident around the farm. The two-spotted mites, which are one of the largest pest problems for strawberry growers in this area, reproduce at a much greater rate when temperatures are high. We’ve had to release more of the beneficial, predatory, persimilis mites to combat them than we normally would have.
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Here, the zucchini is cut into thin strands resembling spaghetti. For this dish you will need a fixed blade slicer (a.k.a. mandolin) of some sort such as a Ben-Riner. Use the comb that gets you closest to spaghetti. This iteration of squash as pasta sees it dressed with a quick tomato sauce with caramelized onions and fennel.
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Let’s get this straight right off the bat. This is not a “light” dressing as in low-cal or dietetic. It is light in that it uses both regular and white balsamic vinegars for a lighter flavor and color. This is for when you want that wonderful complexity of flavor you get from balsamic vinegar, but you don’t want something as forthright as a straight-up balsamic vinaigrette, or there are elements of the salad that already have some balsamic vinegar.
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Here is one use for the stalks of fennel that recipes always tell you to “reserve for another use”. Putting the salmon on the stalks of fennel allows the fish to cook a little more gently, preventing drying out and also imparting a subtle fennel flavor tinged with a bit of smoke. Top the fish with Quick Braised Fennel for Fish or Chicken to compound the flavors, and then if you wish, to take it further, put the salmon in a large bowl with braised vegetables such as carrots and cauliflower and then ladle Fennel Broth (see recipe) around the fish, top with braised fennel and drizzle with olive oil and serve.
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The silky butter lettuces contrast with the crunch of the broccoli and the crisp bite of the turnip dice fills in for croutons. The broccoli (and turnips) can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator, and the broccoli is great as is for a snack or a side, or you can even chop it up and add it to a sandwich.
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