Thursday, September 19, 2013

September 19, 2013 - Last CSA - Mer Folk

What's in the box:
Melons - there were a lot of Ananas Melons this week, a few honeydews and some watermelons, Sweet Corn, Eggplants, Peppers, Tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic, Naked Ned Kelly squash, onions and:

This week's special gift - Corn Flour, and lots of special treats

This is the second time I've tried to write a blog and Blogger has gone crazy.  I can't post any photos, so just bear with me.

Corn Flour vs. Corn Meal
There's a difference.  Corn Flour is for baking, Corn Meal is for boiling.  Corn Flour comes from Floury Corn and Corn Meal comes from Flint Corn.  At the farm we grow both.  We use the Corn Meal for Polenta.  In the sack there is 2 cups of Corn Flour.  I don't have a professional grinder, so the particles are still a bit larger than I could hope for.  To use this corn flour, try adding the liquid to it first and letting it sit for a bit before proceeding to your recipe.

Generally, Corn Flour can take the place of any cup of wheat flour in a recipe.  For example, I regularly make waffles, pancakes, or muffins with corn flour by simply substituting one cup of my corn flour for one cup of any other flour the recipe calls for.  Tonight for dinner we will have corn waffles with chili and sour cream on top.   When I make this recipe, I add the corn flour to the milk and set it aside for about 20 minutes while I organize the rest of dinner.  Once you've had corn waffles, you'll wonder why you haven't tried them before. 

Corn Flour makes great muffins and tamale pie!

Another Great Recipe for Eggplant

Eggplant stacks
Slice an eggplant and sprinkle both sides with salt and set on a paper towel for at least an hour.  Rinse and pat dry. 

Grease a baking pan with olive oil.  Put the eggplants on the sheet and sprinkle with olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar.

Put the eggplants in the oven at 450 and roast for 20-30 minutes until brown.  Don't turn them, but rotate the pan if you feel one edge is getting more brown than the other.

Now, take as many tomato slices as you had eggplant slices, make these at least 1/4 thick.  Put them on a baking pan greased with olive oil.  Sprinkle these with minced garlic, salt and pepper.  Roast these, without turning for 10-15 minutes.

Make as many slices of fresh mozzarella as you have eggplant slices.

Now make your stacks.  On each plate, arrange one slice of eggplant, one slice of cheese and top it with a tomato.  Serve warm.

I like to make these while I'm fussing about making the rest of dinner.

Ananas Melon
Ananas means pineapple in Italian and this netted melon has the aroma of pineapple.  If you were ever going to have melon and prosciutto, now's the time.  These melons are ripe today.  Eat them soon.  

Naked Ned Kelly Squash
Hey don't forget the seeds of these are almost naked, and very delicious too.  Give them a good rinse before roasting them.  These squash seeds can also be used as an oil.  After roasting, whir them in the food processor.  Leo loved these so much, you folks almost didn't get any.  The squash it self has a very nice flavor and a texture closer to potatoes that regular squash.  This squash should keep till Christmas.

Jars, Bags, Boxes and other Miscellany
As this is your last box/bag of the season, as you empty them please set aside jars for me.  Marisa has a box for me at the pool, and Leo has one in his office.  Canning season is far from over and I still hope to get enough jars back to make apple butter, which we will start the season with.

October is a fine  season in America, a wonderful time to begin anything at all.  I think the best remedy for any and all ailments is to take a road trip in October.    The beach, the mountains, the desert, it doesn't matter, they are all grand right now.  After a long season of farming, my feet itch and I can't wait to hit the road and go camping before the rain starts.  I could be cleaning seeds, but heck, that's the whole purpose of winter is to finish the season of procrastination by getting everything tucked in and put away in an orderly fashion.    Right about now, there is no surface in my house or barn that does not have seeds to clean stacked on it.  I'd take a photo, but I don't want to scare you!


Have a lovely season. 

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