Week 7

Vegetable List

Oh Boy! Beets!
Napa Cabbage
Mokum Carrots
Romanesco Cauliflower
Swiss Chard
Raquel Sweet Corn
Cucumb'o'rama
Fairy Tale Eggplant
Magic White Finger Eggplant
Lacinato Kale
Kossak Kohlrabi
All The Head Lettuce
Ailsa Craig Sweet Onions
Bell Peppers
Hatch Green Chile Peppers
Mystery Hot Peppers
White Ice Scallions
Conservor Shallots
Sungolds
Maybe a Tomato
Some Kind of Zucchini and/or Summer Sqush
PYO Herbs
Husk Cherries
A Few PYO Flowers

Notes from the Farm

There are a lot of days that go into getting us to this point in the season... a lot of lifting and walking, hoeing and hand weeding, planting and pruning... enough days and enough work that it when we get to august, when we look around and see all the food, it's like we've just woken from an unintentional sweaty hot nap and we have no idea whats going on...
It's more fun having food that is exciting. I love all veggies... I really do. I love veggie and I love being outside... it's honestly dumb luck I found farming, it's turned out to be a pretty great way to spend my time. So I do love veggies, even the dumb ones, the boring and unimpressive... but nothing beats the layered joy of corn on tomatoes on eggplant on beets on peppers on lettuce on cauliflower on onions on shallots and on and on... Our season is woefully short, in truth, here in Maine, soil grown fresh produce (even amongst the season extensionists) is a delicacy... it's a culinary delicacy, but also an emotional delicacy... it's a cultural delicacy... something to be savored, with the heart, through time and generations.
August food is a manifested form of our collective history... a uniting joy... a reason to love.

Recipes

Hatch Chile Corn Pudding

4 cups corn off the cob
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 Hatch green chile, diced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (6 ounces), divided
5 large eggs, room temperature
⅔ cup heavy cream
½ stick unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Puree 3 cups corn in a food processor. Transfer to a large bowl, and stir in remaining cup corn, the salt, scallions, chiles, flour, and 1/3 cup cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and cream just until combined. Stir into corn mixture.
Place butter in an 8-inch square baking dish, and place in oven until butter is melted, about 10 minutes. Pour batter into hot baking dish, and sprinkle top with remaining 1 2/3 cups cheese. Place a baking sheet on lower rack to catch any drips, and bake until puffed and bubbling and cheese is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes before serving.

Chilled Corn Soup With Corn Custard

For the Corn Custard (Optional)
Unsalted butter, softened, for ramekins and bowls
3/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 large large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
Kosher salt
6 tablespoons corn kernels

For the Corn Soup
4 ears corn, shucked
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup minced white onion
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Minced or snipped chives


For the Corn Custards (Optional): Preheat oven, prep ramekins, and heat milk and cream: Preheat oven to 300°F. Butter six ramekins; place in a baking dish large enough to hold all of them. In a small saucepan, bring milk and cream to a simmer.
Whisk eggs and yolk, then add hot liquid; divide between ramekins: In a heatproof bowl, whisk together eggs and yolk; season with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Gradually whisk hot liquid into egg mixture. Divide mixture evenly among prepared ramekins. Add 1 tablespoon corn kernels to each ramekin.
Cook then cool and refrigerate custards: Place baking dish on oven rack and add boiling water until it comes halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake until custards are just set along edges but still wobbly in centers, about 30 minutes. Remove ramekins to a wire rack; let cool 15 minutes, then refrigerate, covered, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.
For the Soup: Remove kernels, scrape cobs, and cook: Remove kernels from 3 corncobs, then scrape milk from those cobs into a bowl with kernels (you should have about 3 1/2 cups kernels); set aside. Combine scraped cobs and 5 cups water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 8 minutes.
Add remaining ear of corn; strain liquid: Add remaining whole ear corn; simmer 2 minutes more. Strain liquid, discarding cobs and setting aside whole ear. (You should have 4 cups corn broth.) Cut kernels off whole ear and refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Add butter to pan, cook onion: Return saucepan to medium heat; add butter. When melted and foam subsides, add onion, season with salt, and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in broth and reserved corn kernels and cob milk from bowl. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, until corn is tender and sweet, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool 10 minutes.
Puree soup, cool, and refrigerate: Working in batches, transfer mixture to a blender and purée until very smooth, 2 to 3 minutes a batch. If desired, strain through a fine-mesh sieve for the silkiest texture. Let cool 15 minutes, then refrigerate in an airtight container until very cold, at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.
To serve: Run a paring knife around the edges of each custard, then dip bottoms into a bowl of hot water to loosen, about 30 seconds; invert into serving bowls. Ladle soup into bowls containing corn custard; garnish with chives and reserved chilled corn kernels.

Corn and Zucchini Orzo Salad

3 medium zucchini, diced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
8 ounces orzo (1 1/4 cups)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups corn kernels (from 3 ears corn)
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
2 ounces feta, crumbled (1 cup)

Salt zucchini: Place zucchini in a colander and toss with salt. Place colander in sink and let sit 20 minutes.
Cook orzo: Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook orzo according to package instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking; transfer to a large bowl.
Cook corn: In a large skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil over medium. Add corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 4 minutes.
Add corn and remaining ingredients to orzo:
Add to pasta along with zucchini, 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, onion, jalapeno, and lemon zest and juice; season with salt and pepper. Stir in basil and feta.