This ended up being a weird week, CSA-wise. They had to cancel the Portland pick up, between some forecasted severe thunderstorms with hail (I can agree that hanging out in metal framed tents in those conditions isn’t my cup of tea), and the impending arrival of Hurricane Irene requiring them to move up the planned September project of rebuilding the south wall of one of the green houses. So, I hiked out to Freeport today to get this week’s share.
The haul was: garlic, wax peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes (tomatoes, and more tomatoes), broccoli, zucchini, and potatoes.
Since we finished our storm stock up yesterday, and have no intention of getting anywhere near another grocery store until at least Monday, we also headed down to the Farmer’s Market this morning. We got: tomatoes, a purple bell pepper, a lovely red onions, an Armenian snake melon (a cucumber), and some wild Jamaican cucumbers. I also picked up a tarragon plant, to attempt to keep through the winter. It’ll be hanging out in the house for the weekend. I will pot it once the storm goes through, and keep it outside as long as I can.
Cooking highlights for this past week centered on tomatoes. I did BLTs the night of the last pickup, and that weekend, when BF was working, had my traditional easy summer dinner of a baguette, fresh mozzarella, and a tomato. Best freaking edition of that all year.
I also made gazpacho. I happened upon this version online, when trying to come up with a chunkier version, and it came out quite nicely. You really do need to puree some of it, or it’s just non-spicy salsa.
The other CSA based meal I completed was Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Garlic and Zucchini, and I actually made the ricotta.
The ricotta was shockingly easy, and sooooo much better than anything you can get at the store (and I’ve tried some pretty high end ricotta from the specialty store). I’m not sure I got as much as I was supposed to out of the amount of liquid I put in, but it was certainly enough for the recipe. I’d definitely do it again.