Gilding the Radish

The radish. Some would say it has a taste only a mother could love...or in my case, a grandmother. I remember my Nana loved a good radish, plain and unadulterated. Though I tried to enjoy this colorful little vegetable numerous times, the peppery taste always stopped me from eating more than one or two at a time, and usually in a salad with lots of dressing for disguise. Yet radishes are worthy of a second - or third, look because their roots and leaves are packed with nutrients like vitamin C, potassium, and trace minerals.

Since radishes have been included in recent CSA farm shares, and I just pulled the last of them from my garden, I was determined to find a way to enjoy this often overlooked veggie. While browsing through some online recipes, I came across one for glazed radishes. This sounded like an intriguing way to camouflage the radish's peppery bite. Then my thoughts naturally turned from glaze to maple glaze, which then flowed to maple pecan glaze. Hence, the recipe Glazed Maple Pecan Radishes was born...but would it meet my dreamy expectations?

I am happy to report that I was very pleased with the resulting taste. Even my vegetable-skeptical family ate this concoction and enjoyed it. By cooking the radishes while reducing the glaze - actually an accidental effect of adding too much water, their peppery harshness was tamed to a pleasant, light accent. The cooked radishes had the texture of less-crunchy water chestnuts, which contrasted nicely with the crispness of the toasted pecans. All-in-all, this pairing made a delicious topping for the steamed salmon we had, though I can imagine it would also be great over grilled chicken breasts. I reduced it a little more than I would have liked, so there wasn't very much liquid glaze to coat the fish. Next time I will stop the cooking process before most of the water has dissipated to leave more glaze for the meat.


The recipe:

Glazed Maple Pecan Radishes

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
2 cups chopped or sliced radishes (mine were peeled and sliced)
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Coarsely chop ½ cup pecans or use 1/2 cup pre-chopped pecans. Lay pieces in a baking pan in a single layer and toast in a 400 degree oven for about 4 minutes or until pecans start to brown. Set aside.

Peel and slice or coarsely chop radishes to make 2 cups. (I peeled mine because they were large and the skin was a little tough.)

In a saucepan or medium-sized frying pan, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the radishes, maple syrup, water, vinegar, sugar, and salt and stir to coat. Cook on medium until the liquid starts to bubble, stirring periodically. Continue to gently boil until the liquid has reduced in volume by about two-thirds and the radishes are starting to get translucent. The glaze will be thickening. You can cook until there is as much or as little liquid left as you prefer. Reduce heat to low, add the pecans, and stir to coat. Cook for an additional minute or two. Remove from heat and serve over your main dish of choice, or eat as a side dish.

A sweet glaze remains after reducing the water

Served over steamed salmon and with oven-roasted broccoli

To roast broccoli:

preheat oven to 400 degrees

clean and trim broccoli into small florets

coat bottom of small baking dish with olive oil

place broccoli in a shallow baking dish and
drizzle with olive oil

sprinkle with salt, pepper and onion powder

toss broccoli to coat with oil and spices

roast in oven for about 15 minutes
or until broccoli is lightly browned

Enjoy!

Confessions

I am here to admit that I am a foodaholic. Yes, I confess to thinking about food way more than I should during the day, especially now that summer is here (almost), and the fruits and vegetables are coming in at local farms and in our garden. On Thursday we had our second CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) pickup from Rabbit's Dance Farm in Cumberland, RI. I am splitting a summer share with a friend; a whole share would be too much for me to eat because we have a large home garden. Even though we grow a lot of different fruits and vegetables at home, I still like to receive part of a CSA share to compensate for crop failures we might experience, and also to support local, organic agriculture. The weather is so variable from year to year that we can't depend on all our own plants producing an edible yield. It is nice to have back up.

Excited about cooking with my CSA produce, I recently joined the "Cooking Away My CSA" Challenge started by Heather on her Flour Girl blog. Beginning June 22, we are to blog about our culinary creations based on CSA fruits and vegetables as a way to inspire each other to break out of our eating ruts. For any of you localvore CSA-lovers who would like to commune with other like-minded folks, she created a group at Google so we can exchange recipes and photos. If you have ever wondered, "What the heck do I make with kohlrabi?" this group may be for you.

I'm starting a little before the challenge begins because I so enjoyed my breakfast that I wanted to share it with all of you - ok, not literally, because I ate it, so there is none left! Here's what we received in our CSA share this week:

beets
kale
mixed baby lettuce
garlic scapes
peas
thyme
and the infamous kohlrabi

How they will be used:

beets - steamed and sliced
kale - blanched and possibly added to soup
mixed baby lettuce - salad
garlic scapes - chopped and sauteed with shredded kohlrabi and Parmesan cheese (see below)
peas - eaten raw and slightly boiled
thyme - given to share partner
kohlrabi - shredded and sauteed with chopped garlic scapes and Parmesan cheese (see below)

The peas were you-pick, in the rain, but still fun none-the-less. I re-discovered that there is nothing like the crisp sweetness of a freshly picked pea right out of the field. We ate a few raw and blanched the rest, which were so much better cooked than their canned or frozen cousins.

This morning, for breakfast, I made a one-egg omelet which included the kohlrabi and some garlic scapes. Fresh and mouth-watering strawberries from nearby Cook's Valley Farm added a touch of sweetness to my meal.

How it was prepared (a quick, unofficial recipe):

wash and remove stems & leaves from one small kohlrabi
(save leaves for another meal)
peel kohlrabi and shred
rinse and chop garlic scapes (I used four)

sautee kohlrabi using approximately a tablespoon of olive oil and
a teaspoon of butter until it is softened and starting to brown

add chopped scapes and a drizzle of oil
cook for a couple of minutes

in a small bowl, fork-blend one egg, salt, pepper, and a tablespoon of water
add to scapes and kohlrabi, still in the pan on the stove
stir to mix

sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese - about 1/4 cup on top of the egg/veggie mix
let cook until the egg starts to set
carefully loosen sides of omelet and slip a spatula under it
flip over and brown the other side

remove from pan and eat before anyone else comes into the kitchen!

As I post this, I realize that I do a lot of vegetable and egg scrambles with my CSA items because they are quick to make and a great way to use up odds and ends. You can add any vegetables, meats, or cheeses that you have leftover too. But I need to break out of this one-lane road and try something more exciting. I am looking forward to the Challenge posts for further inspiration!

Growing Local

Daily cooking tasks always seem more pleasant and interesting in the summer when fresh, local produce is arriving in great abundance. It is no surprise that my culinary creativity peaks from July through September. In addition to the herbs, fruits and vegetables growing in my own small garden, we have been reaping the edible benefits of our purchased share in a local CSA called Rabbit's Dance Farm, located just off the beaten path in Cumberland, RI, near the the Massachusetts border. This lovely pocket of farmland is tucked away on a small back road that is not far from the commercial shopping strip on Route 114 in Woonsocket, RI. One would never know that this unassuming rural gem existed so close to big box megamarts like Walmart and Lowes. In contrast to the oceans of pavement and energy-draining lights of the stores on the main road, Rabbit's Dance is a quiet oasis of trees and fields gently striped with rows of lush, green plants in various stages of bloom and growth.

I came upon a mention of Rabbit's Dance last year while perusing the listings of local farms at Farm Fresh Rhode Island, a comprehensive and informative site for budding localvores like me which provides links to area CSAs, farms, farmers markets, community gardens, and related events. I was delighted to find an organic CSA within a 15 minute drive of my home. Right away I contacted Rabbit's Dance manager, Kristin Lewis, to inquire about a share. I was just in time to sign up for a 2007 winter share, which offered delicious fresh fall produce such as mixed greens, squashes, potatoes, garlic, sweet potatoes, beets and carrots. This year I am splitting a full summer share with a friend. Though I have enlarged my gardening area at home, I know I cannot grow all my own produce. Buying supermarket chain fruits and vegetables is an option, but buying locally-grown food has many advantages both for my family's health and for the well-being of the environment. Obtaining additional produce from a CSA or farmers market nicely fills gaps in my home food production.

"CSA" stands for Community Supported Agriculture. A CSA is a partnership between a local farm and the community which is mutually beneficial: community members buy shares in the upcoming harvest in advance, which pays for farm expenses such as seeds, labor, land costs, and equipment maintenance, and in exchange, the shareholders receive a portion of the seasonal produce grown on the farm. Most CSAs expect their shareholders to spend a little time volunteering on the farm, either helping on share distribution days, in the fields, or in the greenhouse. Spending some time on the farm and interacting with farm owners or managers and other shareholders increases interactions between members of the community, builds a personal relationship between growers and consumers, keeps local farmland in food production and out of development, and allows people to develop closer connections to the origins of their food. For more information on Community Supported Agriculture and to find a CSA in your area, visit LocalHarvest.org.

Basil from Rabbit's Dance waits to become pesto!

Having tried my hand at growing food at home, I know how hard it is to be successful in the face of variable weather conditions, animal theft (oh those woodchucks and chipmunks are hungry!), insect invasions, and plant disease outbreaks. I have great respect for local farmers, especially owners of small farms, who persist despite all these natural barriers, and while being pressured to compete with "cheap" food that is sold at big chain stores. However, it is becoming more apparent each year that seemingly cheap food has hidden costs in terms of health dangers, increased shipping energy expenses, and loss of natural habitat that highlight how important it is to maintain support for our local food sources. No farmland and no farmers equals no food.

Beyond buying a CSA share, frequenting farmers markets and farm stands are two additional ways to buy local produce as well as to support local food production. Located not more than a few miles from Rabbit's Dance, is the farm stand at Cooks Valley Farm in Wrentham, MA. After having picked up my share at the CSA, it has become my pleasurable habit to drive a few minutes down the road to Cook's to purchase a few fruits and vegetables from the wonderful, large assortment of their own produce grown on site on this 300 year-old family farm. Though Cooks is not an organic farm, they do strive to grow with the least chemical input possible; for example, they use methods such as integrated pest management which is also used by organic growers. I am always amazed by the wide variety of produce that the Cook farm grows. The farm stand, located in the historic, white barn by the side of the road and adjacent to the family farmhouse, displays numerous baskets of lettuce, broccoli, radishes, peppers, squash, peaches, berries (in season), cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, corn, amongst other vegetable delights. Right now bunches of garlic can be seen hanging from the barn rafters while curing for future storage. In the fall, the farm has pumpkins, winter squash, and a sizable number of apple varieties available for sale. The stand is open quite late in the year too: I bought bags of their apple seconds to make applesauce just before Christmas last year!

This year, Rabbit's Dance has teamed up with Cooks to offer summer fruit shares and a coupon program for purchasing additional vegetables at the farm stand. The two farms seem a natural blend considering their close proximity and mutual devotion to local food. Since my food shopping this week included the bounty from both farms, I decided to try to make an (almost) entirely local meal.

On the menu:

• Crustless Broccoli, Baby Red Onion, and Cheese Quiche
• Oven-roasted Mixed Summer Squash, Italian Style
• Sliced Fresh Cucumbers

Ingredient origins:

• baby red onions, sweet yellow pepper, cucumbers, summer squash - Rabbit's Dance Farm, Cumberland, RI
• broccoli - Cook's Valley Farm, Wrentham, MA
• garlic - my own garden
• Atwell's Gold cheese - Narragansett Creamery, Providence, RI (sold at Rabbit's Dance)
  
• eggs - Ferrucci Egg Farm (A. Ferrucci & Sons), Milford, MA
• milk - Munroe Dairy, E. Providence, RI (delivered by Maple Farm Dairy, Mendon, MA)
• butter - Kate's Homemade Butter, Old Orchard Beach, ME
• salt and pepper, seasonings, olive oil (not local)

Why not try to make a locally-sourced meal, especially during the summer when produce is readily available? You'll be challenged to think creatively and to explore the food resources in your own area. It will also be an eye-opening experience that will make you look much more closely at the origins of what you are eating.

Bon appetit!


Resources:
What is a "localvore?"
http://www.postoilsolutions.org/localvore

Where to find food grown near you
http://www.localharvest.org

More about CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture)
http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Farm Fresh RI (CSA, farms and farmers markets)
http://www.farmfreshri.org

Massachusetts CSA Programs
http://www.nofamass.org/programs/csa.php

Massachusetts Farmers Markets
http://www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown/farmers_markets.htm
http://www.nofamass.org/programs/ofg/markets.php

Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Consumer Resources
http://www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown

Rabbit's Dance Farm CSA, Cumberland, RI
http://www.rabbitsdancefarm.com

Cooks Valley Farm, Wrentham, MA
http://www.cooksvalleyfarm.com

Narragansett Creamery
http://www.richeeses.com

Munroe Dairy
http://www.cowtruck.com

Maple Farm Dairy
http://www.maplefarmdairy.com

Kate's Homemade Butter
http://www.kateshomemadebutter.com

Ferrucci Egg Farms
508-473-7015
Milford, MA (sold in local stores and through Maple Farm Dairy)