News from the Farm
By Sarah Libertus

As you will all learn soon enough, I am a bit obsessed with food. It is one of the great perks for working at Featherstone: not only am I immersed in the process of growing food, but I am surrounded by food every day. We are hosting a couple field trips this summer and the question always arises, “Where does our food come from?”. I will try to use this newsletter to discuss the processes that we go through for the food, but let me know if there is more that you want to know.

Speaking of food…There will be a salsa night at the Farm in July (date still to be determined). This is a great chance for you to pit your favorite salsa recipe against others. We have many outlets for Cuisinarts and blenders, some toe-tapping music and a beautiful back-drop for slicing and dicing. I hope that you will plan on joining me and we can discuss the possibility of additional cooking nights for this season.

It has been great hearing from all of you this past week. Please continue to give me feedback on these recipes if you have had a chance to try them. I heard some mixed reports on the braised radishes and I would love to hear more. We have had quite a few requests to get more recipes and I would love to include your recipes in the newsletter as well. However, in order to conserve printing costs, the paper newsletter will be kept to a one page (double-sided) minimum. I am working on a plan to use our website to post more recipes, so that no one ever feels daunted by greens, beans or root vegetables again. Eat well.

By Sarah Libertus

Due to the nature of farming, the produce in the box may change with the weather. Please feel free to contact me if you need any additional assistance with what is in your box.
Green Garlic- For those of you addicted to Bon Appetit as I am, you may remember the description of green garlic in their May Italian food issue. Now it is your turn to try these delicacies. Green garlic is simply the juvenile stage of the familiar cured garlic that we all know so well. The green garlic has a pungent flavor that is milder than its cured siblings with a slight onion flavor. Use these any way that you would use shallots or garlic. Jack claims that you only have to fill your roasting pan with meat and green garlic, cook slowly and taste the richest roast ever made.
Red Butter Lettuce- This is our most delicate lettuce. The Red Butter is just as it sounds: a smooth tasting lettuce with a beautiful red hue. As with other red lettuces, this lettuce will go bad faster than the sturdy Romaine, so enjoy this lettuce while it is fresh.
Spinach- The spinach is bigger than baby, so it is great for cooking with. It is still a young spinach so it is tender, but you may want to cut it up before using it in salads.

Beet Greens- These are cut from our Red Ace beets and can be eaten raw in salads or sautéed quickly in a nice olive oil. Beet greens are ridiculously good for you and quite sweet and tender at this age. As they get older they will increase in flavor and bitterness, which is a perfect foil to goat cheese and rich soups.

This recipe was given to us by Trina--our Shop Manager. I feel like this is a perfect fusion of her many lives: her time cooking at her family’s restaurant, her time working on a CSA in Alaska and her love of good food.

TRINA’S GREEN SALMON
8 oz salmon (wild caught)
8 oz spinach
handful of beet greens
1⁄4 cup of wasabi paste
juice from 1⁄2 lemon (approx. 2 Tbsp)
salt & pepper to taste
Blanche the spinach. Coat the salmon thickly with the wasabi paste. Wrap the salmon up in the spinach and beet greens and top with 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. Cook slowly for 1 hour at 300 deg. Take out and top with remaining lemon juice. Add salt & pepper.This can be found as a first course at many Japanese restaurants. It is very simple

SESAME SPINACH (or GOMA AE)
8 oz. Spinach
2 Tbsp. dark sesame oil
1⁄2 tsp soy sauce (or Tamari)
1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

Blanche spinach. Mix dark sesame oil and soy sauce together in bowl. Toss oil mixture with spinach and top with toasted sesame seeds. Serve warm or cold.Risotto is a cheesy, starchy main dish that ranks high in the comfort food scale. The Arborio rice is a smaller rice and really does make a difference with the texture.

RISOTTO ALLA PRIMAVERA
6 1/2 cups (about) vegetable broth
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 8-ounce onion, chopped
1 medium leek sliced crosswise into thin rings
2 stalks green garlic, chopped
2 cups arborio rice or carnaroli rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup 1-inch pieces of asparagus
1 cup petite frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving

Bring broth to simmer in medium saucepan. Cover; keep warm over low heat. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, leek, and garlic. Sauté until wilted and almost tender, about 6 minutes. Add rice; stir until rice is translucent at edges but still opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Add wine; simmer until almost all liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 1 minute. Add broth 1 cup at a time until rice is about half cooked, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding next and stirring often, about 9 minutes. Stir in asparagus and parsley. Continue adding broth by cupfuls and stirring until rice is almost tender, about 6 minutes longer. Add peas. Cook until rice is tender but still firm to bite and mixture is creamy, about 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Add 3/4 cup cheese and 2 tablespoons butter. Stir until cheese and butter melt. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing additional cheese alongside.

-From Bon Appetit, May 2005 p. 136