SUMMER CSA // WEEK 8

 “Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” - Harriet van Horne

PRODUCER SPOTLIGHT: Tucumcari Mountain Cheese // Tucumcari, NM

About Tucumcari Mountain Cheese Factory:  Tucumcari Cheese factory is an all-natural cheese manufacturer in Northern New Mexico: “The cheese with an enchanting taste!”  Their milk comes from cows free of rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone), produced with GMO-free feed, and is not irradiated.  Furthermore, one of their investors operates an Organic Valley dairy and so some of the milk is produced under Certified Organic practices.
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A NOTE FROM NICK + WHAT'S IN THE BOX??

The bustle and rush of the summer is ebbing to the cooler nights and back-to-school intentions. The summer’s music festivals have about wrapped up and the harvest is upon us. We are expecting to get into watermelons, honeydew, and cantaloupe next week, however, the word I have been hearing all summer is “we’ll see, there has been a lot hail lately.” And flooded fields. There is never a dull moment.
If you’re like me, I’m a die-hard CSAer. When it comes time to decide what to make for dinner, it’s like "well, what's the produce this week?” Recipes are a fun challenge to try something new as there is only so much boiling and then lathering with salt and butter one can do. Recipes help us reach for new flavors, colors, juxtapositions. A little umami perhaps. We’re still slicing watermelon radishes and I think they’re my top choice for salad adornment these days. Their flavor also doesn’t have the sharp radish bite, but is more mellow and sweet, indeed slightly reminiscent of memories of a jolly rancher. Anyone experience that?
We would love to hear from you on your cooking & food prep forays!  Recipes, photos, and tales from the front lines…send ‘em in! Have a good week! - Nick

• Peaches, Sweet Cheeks Organic Peaches, Palisade, CO                 3 lbs
• Quinoa, Black, COG, White Mountain Farm, Mosca                   1 bag
• Cucumber, Ab Yoder Family Farm, Alamosa                              1 each
• Cheese, Smoked Gouda, Tucumcari Mtn Cheese Factory              10 oz
• Onions, Red Grilling, COG, White Mountain Farm, Mosca         1 bunch
• Beets, Chioggia, COG, White Mountain Farm, Mosca                1 bunch
• Peas, Shelling, Tierra Sana, Alamosa                                       1 pound
• Beans, Purple, COG, White Mountain Farm, Mosca                  1 pound ​

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RECIPES

Pickled Dilly Beans

• Fresh Dill
• Beans
• S + P
• Vinegar
• Sugar
• Chili Flakes
  
  

1. Heat 2 cups of vinegar and 1/2 cup of sugar until sugar is dissolved
2. Add 3-4 sprigs of fresh dill and let simmer with the liquid for about 5 minutes
3. In a large mixing bowl sprinkle beans with a handful of salt and pour liquid over beans
4. Add salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste
5. When the beans are cooled store in a mason jar in the refrigerator for about 1 month

Spicy Peas

• Peas
• Garlic
• Soy sauce
• S + P
• Chili Flakes
• Coconut oil
  
  

1. Heat 2 tablespoons coconut oil in a skillet on medium high heat
2. Add 1 tablespoon chopped garlic and a handful of peas 
3. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes

Peach and Gouda Pizza
Pizza Dough:

• 1 1/3 cup filtered water
• 1 pkt dry active yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2.5 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp salt
• 3 cup bread flour
  
  

1. Bloom yeast in warm water with dissolved sugar.
2. Allow yeast to bloom until thick foam has developed on top of water.
3. Add liquid to mixing bowl and add 1 cup of flour and combine well.
4. Once the first cup of flour is incorporated, add the salt and oil. Combine.
5. Now add the remaining flour until that soft, slightly tacky dough is achieved
6. Proof until dough has doubled in size. Approximately 45 minutes to an hour.

Toppings:

• Peaches 
• Caramelized onions
• Smoked Gouda cheese
• Garlic
• Arugula
  
  

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Once dough is ready form into a circle and place toppings on, saving arugula until pizza is done
3. Let dough rise with toppings for about 30 minutes then place into a preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until crust is crispy

Polish Beet Soup (Barszcz Czysty Czerwony) – “Borscht”
This easy clear red beet soup (barszcz czysty czerwony) recipe gets the desired hint of sourness from lemon juice or vinegar and is great eaten hot with boiled potatoes or cold with rye bread. Barszcz in Polish means "borscht." This meatless soup is often served with mushroom uszka ("little ear" dumplings) for Polish Christmas Eve dinner known as wigilia, when it is known as barszcz wigilijny.​

• 4 beets, washed, or 2 cups sliced canned or jarred beets
• 4 cups meat or vegetable stock
• 1 minced clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• Salt and black pepper
• Chopped fresh dill for garnish
• Sliced onions (1 to 2)

1. If using fresh beets, heat oven to 400 F. Wrap beets in aluminum foil and roast until tender, about 30 to 45 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel and slice into strips or julienne.
2. In a medium pot, bring meat or vegetable (if fasting) stock to boil, add cooked and sliced beets, onions, garlic, sugar, fresh lemon juice or red-wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 10 minutes.
3. Serve hot with boiled potatoes and chopped dill for garnish, or cool quickly in an ice-water bath and refrigerate to serve cold garnished with dill and sour cream. 

White Barszcz - White borschtis made with white kiełbasa cooking water, potatoes, sour cream, sausage, hard-cooked eggs and a żur, (similar to a kwas, a sour starter made by fermenting bread  and/or beets.