Crazy Weather and Farm Production

I have been out of California for a while. Driving home, middle of summer, I had the air conditioning on high through Nevada. I drove into the sunny eastern Sierra and once I topped Donner Pass, I looked into a bank of thick black clouds. In July. By the time I got to Sacramento, it was raining cats and dogs. It was still pouring when I arrived home.

How odd, I thought.

The few days before, temperatures were reaching 105 degrees. The days following the rainstorm were, again, hot and sunny. Stifling.

So, how does this unpredictable, unseasonable weather affect our food?

Globally, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that there will be, or already are, 30 countries in crisis and in need of external food aid. In January of this year, President Obama readied the military for widespread food rioting that was predicted for the spring. We witnessed the "Arab Spring" that many attributed to a desire for democracy and others to lack of food. In Tunisia,the protests that led to the downfall of the government began after an educated but unemployed 26-year-old man set himself on fire when police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he was selling without a permit.

On the home front, our weird weather may mean that cherries split in the late rains, peaches have brown rot, yields are low and what's left in the field and on the trees ripens all at once. The idea of planting for harvest over the entire season is just a memory and things need to get off the farm and onto the shelves fast and now.

As eaters, we may feel like we didn't get enough asparagus or cherries. Did anyone have apricots this year? The harbingers of summer have been less than perfect. Now, plums, plums, plums...and the figs ripen faster than we can eat them. It seems like the tomatoes in my garden have just stopped fruit production and my corn ears -- well, as close as I live to Brentwood, my corn is not an example of that great sweet corn region.

So, as much as I can complain about having too much of one thing and not enough of another, I just keep thinking how hard this must be for farmers. Their lives depend on some measure of predictability and on an expectation of yields. And farmers around our globe are facing unbelievable challenges feeding us.

I'll just keep buying local, whatever is available. At least I have that luxury.

New York Times Recipe sent by a Member

New York Times
May 24, 2011
Quinoa and Chard Cakes
By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN
I’d been thinking about making a sort of “burger” with quinoa and vegetables when I saw a recipe for chard cakes in the Dining section of The Times. I combined the two ideas and came up with these quinoa and chard cakes, which you can serve as a main dish or a side. A few days later, I made the same recipe but used spinach, which is lower in sodium, instead of chard (see variation below). Top these cakes with yogurt spiked with puréed garlic.

1 1/2 pounds Swiss chard, washed and stemmed (do not discard the stems)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 plump garlic cloves, minced, or 2 teaspoons minced green garlic

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup cooked quinoa

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan (1 1/2 ounces)

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon canola oil

For serving:

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 garlic clove, puréed with a generous pinch of salt

1. Fill a bowl with ice water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt generously and add the chard leaves. Blanch for two to three minutes until tender, then transfer to the ice water. Drain, squeeze out excess water and chop medium-fine. Add the chard stems to the water, and cook four to five minutes until tender. Transfer to the ice water, then drain and cut in 1/4-inch dice. Measure out 3/4 cup of the stems, and reserve the rest for another purpose.

Alternatively, steam the chard leaves, then the stems, above an inch of boiling water until tender. The leaves will take three to four minutes, the stems five minutes.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a medium or large skillet. Add the garlic. When it is fragrant, in 30 seconds to a minute, stir in the chard leaves and stems and the cumin. Stir together for about a minute, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl, and add the quinoa, Parmesan and egg. Stir together.

3. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the canola oil together over medium-high heat in a large, heavy skillet. Moisten your hands, and shape the quinoa and chard mixture into four hamburger-size patties (or make smaller, fritter-ish patties). Carefully place the patties in the hot oil, taking care not to crowd them in the pan. Press down on the tops of the patties with the bottom of your spatula to prevent them from falling apart; if they are thick enough, they should stay together. Cook for four to five minutes on each side until nicely browned. Remove from the heat and serve.

Variation: Substitute 2 pounds bunch spinach for the chard. Stem and wash the leaves (discard the stems) and wilt, in batches, in a large frying pan in the water left on their leaves after washing. Proceed as instructed.

Yield: Serves four.

Advance preparation: The cooked chard and cooked quinoa will keep for four days in the refrigerator. The mixture will keep for a day.

Nutritional information per serving: 242 calories; 2 grams saturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 53 milligrams cholesterol; 18 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 485 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 11 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of "The Very Best of Recipes for Health."

Chard Tart: one of my all time favorites

This week has been cold and rainy. During weather like this, I like to return to my comfort recipes. This one is delicious and filled with chard. Yum!

Chard and Herb Tart
(Torta di Bietolo ed Erbe)
This is a popular tart in Tuscany and can include other herbs like tarragon, sage, nettles and borage.

1 lb Swiss chard, stems and ribs removed
1 ½ TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 15 oz container whole milk ricotta cheese
½ C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground pepper
¼ tsp minced fresh thyme
¼ tsp minced fresh oregano
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg

1 17 oz package frozen puff pastry, (2 sheets) thawed

Cook chard in a large pot of boiling salted water until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Drain. Squeeze out liquid. Chop chard. (I do this in a food processor.)

Heat oil in a heavy large skillet, over medium heat. Add garlic, sauté 1 minute. Add chard, sauté until excess liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Transfer chard mixture to a large bowl. Cool slightly. Mix in ricotta and next seven ingredients.

Preheat oven to 375 with rack positioned in lower third of oven. Roll out one pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to a 14 inch square. Transfer to a 9-inch-diameter tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim edges, leaving one inch overhang. Fill pastry with chard mixture. Lightly brush pastry overhang with pastry brush dipped into water. Roll out second sheet to a 13 inch square. Using tart pan as guide, trim pastry to a 10-inch round. Drape over filling. Seal edges and fold in.

Bake until pastry is golden brown about 45 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Remove sides from tart pan. Transfer to platter, cut into wedges and serve.
Bon Appetit, May 2000

Greens and Eggs

I love almost all combinations of greens and eggs. I don't know why but I find them a perfect complement to one another. The recipe below is from Deborah Madison's cookbook "Vegetarian Cooking for Eveyone." Deborah was the chef at Greens for a while and now lives in New Mexico. I adore her recipes. I hope you like this one.

Chard and Onion Omelet (Trouchia)
by Deborah Madison
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
These Provençal eggs, laced with softened onions and chard, never fail to elicit sighs of appreciation. I'm forever grateful to Nathalie Waag for making trouchia when she came to visit—it has since become a favorite. The trick to its success is to cook everything slowly so that the flavors really deepen and sweeten.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large red or white onion, quartered and thinly sliced crosswise
1 bunch chard, leaves only, chopped
Salt and freshly milled pepper

1 garlic clove
6 to 8 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped basil
2 teaspoons chopped thyme
1 cup grated Gruyère
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 10-inch skillet, add the onion, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until completely soft but not colored, about 15 minutes. Add the chard and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all the moisture has cooked off and the chard is tender, about 15 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, mash the garlic in a mortar with a few pinches of salt (or chop them finely together), then stir it into the eggs along with the herbs. Combine the chard mixture with the eggs and stir in the Gruyère and half the Parmesan.
Preheat the broiler. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet and, when it's hot, add the eggs. Give a stir and keep the heat at medium-high for about a minute, then turn it to low. Cook until the eggs are set but still a little moist on top, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the remaining Parmesan and broil 4 to 6 inches from the heat, until browned.
Serve trouchia in the pan or slide it onto a serving dish and cut it into wedges. The gratinéed top and the golden bottom are equally presentable.

Source Information
From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison


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Wilted Greens 2 Ways

I love mixing up my cooking greens in a couple different ways. One thing I like to do is a wilted greens salad. For this, I use a mix of both salad greens and young cooking greens like chard or spinach. I like the leaves to be pretty small. This works great with baby bok choy, tat soy, chard and baby spinach. I think it would also be fine with baby mizuna. What I do is pour some olive oil in a skillet and heat it until it sheets. Add some chopped green garlic or pressed garlic cloves. Add sliced mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms are browned but there is still some of their liquid in the pan. Wash and mix the greens and put them in a bowl. Add some balsamic vinegar to the pan and heat it up. Add a little more oil to make a dressing. Pour the entire contents of the skillet over the greens and toss to lightly wilt and dress the greens. Add some grated cheese to the top. If you have roasted beets, they're great in this salad as well.

For more bitter greens like wild mustard, wild radish or Italian rapini, I like to wilt them a bit more and add a vinegar while hot. This is more of a traditional Mediterranean side dish. The recipe below is posted on Epicurious and comes from Gourmet Magazine.


Wilted Mixed Greens
Gourmet, May 2003
There is a tradition in Crete of gathering wild greens and using them not only in vegetable or salad dishes but also as stuffings for savory turnovers. Cretans make use of tiny leeks, wild fennel, purslane, and milkwort, as well as the more familiar greens. We have substituted a mixture of the varieties of tender greens available at most supermarkets. You can even use prepackaged mixes, such as baby Asian salad or baby braising mix.
Yield: Serves 4 (as part of mezedes)

1 1/2 pound mixed tender or baby greens such as young chard, kale, mustard greens, spinach, beet greens, dandelion, and arugula, coarse stems discarded and leaves coarsely chopped (20 cups)
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Cook greens in a 6- to 8-quart pot of , uncovered, until wilted and tender, about 3 minutes. Drain greens in a colander, then immediately plunge into a large bowl of very cold water to stop cooking. Once cooled, drain in colander, tossing occasionally, 1 hour.
Just before serving, whisk together vinegar, salt, and oil in a bowl until combined well. Add greens and toss to coat.


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James Beard's Spinach Pasta

I just made some spinach pasta using my Bloomsdale spinach from our share this past week. It was beautifully green and very tasty. Freshly made pasta is much more flavorful than that dried packaged stuff. I made a brown butter, green garlic and sage topping and added some aged parmesan. Try it!

Green Pasta
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound spinach, wilted and squeezed dry

The easiest way to make this pasta is in a mixer or food processor.
By Electric Mixer:
Fit the paddle into your electric mixer. Put the flour and salt into the bowl and give it a quick whirl to mix them. Add the egg, spinach and oil and turn on the beater. Let it go for half a minute, until you have coarse grains of dough in the bowl, something like the consistency of piecrust before it is gathered into a ball.

Replace the paddle with the dough hook and knead in the bowl for 5 minutes. OR take the dough from the bowl, dust a wooden surface with flour, pat the dough into a ball, and knead for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you should have a firm, smooth bright green ball of dough. Cover with a cloth and let rest a minimum of 30 minutes before rolling and cutting.

By Food Processor:
Put the metal blade into the food processor. Measure in the flour and salt, and process briefly to blend them. Drop the eggs, oil and spinach through the feeding tube, and let the machine run until the dough begins to form a ball, around 15 seconds should do it. Once you've become familiar with the method, you'll be able to correct the recipe at this point. If the dough seems too sticky, add more flout. If it's too dry (unlikely with the spinach) add a few drops of oil.

Turn out the dough out onto a floured surface. Dust your hands with flour and continue the kneading begun by the food processor. Work for 3-5 minutes, adding more flour as needed, until you have a smooth ball of dough. Set it to rest under a dish towel for a minimum of 30 minutes before rolling and cutting.

Polenta with Greens and Eggs

There are several recipes for cooked greens with corn meal mush or polenta or grits and eggs. I have taken a couple and adapted it to my taste.

Adapted from the smart palate recipe for creamy polenta with greens and poached egg and a Southern fried eggs, grits and collard greens recipe.

4 cups water
1 cup polenta (I am using Country Grains Floriani from Oliveto in Oakland. It is very coarse.)
1 tsp sea salt
2-1/2 cups wild greens like wild mustard or radish greens cut in strips
freshly ground black pepper
Eggs
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Bring water to a boil in a 2 or 3 quart pot.
Add salt to pot, then add polenta in a steady, slow stream, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to low and continue to whisk for a minute or so to prevent lumps from forming. Simmer for 15 to 30 minutes, until polenta is thickened. Whisk every few minutes (polenta likes to stick to the bottom of the pot). Add more water (1/4 cup at a time) if the polenta becomes too thick.

Meanwhile, wilt the greens in a pan with the water remaining on their leaves and some salt.

When polenta is cooked to your liking, turn off heat and stir in the chopped greens. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Cover until ready to serve. (If reserved polenta becomes too thick, or to reheat leftovers, stir in 1/4 cup water or milk and whisk over low heat for a couple of minutes to loosed it up.)

To poach eggs: add water, to a depth of about 3 inches, to a small pot or saucepan. Bring to a boil, add vinegar, and reduce heat to low. (It should be just below a simmer, hot enough for small bubbles to form on the bottom of the pot but not actively bubbling - that would break up the egg.) Break each egg into a small cup and carefully slide egg into water. I like to swirl the water with the handle of a wooden spoon right after adding the egg; it prevents the egg from spreading out too much into the water. Poach for 4 to 5 minutes, until white is firm and yolk is still soft. Remove egg from pot with a slotted spoon.

If you want, you can cook your eggs however you like them. This dish is delicious with fried eggs, creamy scrambled eggs or poached eggs, so experiment!

Transfer hot polenta to bowls. Top each serving with a serving of egg, drizzle with olive oil, and shower with parmesan shavings.