Celery Fennel Soup

Celery is usually so benign.  When I got my first bunch from the farm, I realized how much flavor it really should have.   I got challenged to make a celery dish, and was craving soup - so here's what happened.  

What you need:  Celery - about 10 ribs cut into 1-2 inch pieces
                           Fennel - 2 small or 1 large bulb - cut into 1-2 inch sections
                           Garlic - 5-6 cloves whole
                           olive oil - 3-4 tbsp
                           Salt & Pepper 1 -2 tsp.
                            4 red potatoes - peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
                            6 cups chicken broth
                           Juice from half a lemon
                           1/2 cup of half and half.


Heat your oven to 350. Then, cut your veggies and put em in a roasting pan with the garlic.  Toss with oil and salt and roast for about 45 minutes, until they get a little brownish around the corners. While they roast, cook your taters in the chicken broth until tender, maybe 15 minutes.  Take the broth & potatoes off the heat.  When the veggies are nice and roasted, put them in with the potatoes and let the whole thing cool for a few minutes.  Transfer to blender in batches - don't burn yourself, it hurts.  If you want no celery strings, use a strainer when you put it back in the pot.  Then bring the concoction to a boil, add lemon juice and half & half, re-season to taste. 

Roasted Radicchio in Balsamic Reduction

I dislike radicchio.  It kind of tastes like drinking orange juice right after you just brushed your teeth with Crest and Clorox.  However, there are whole regions in Italy devoted to their strain of this bitter monster, so I figure there's got to be something to that most hated of taste sensations.  That and my sister Elizabeth from Rio Gozo told me my challenge was to make a radicchio dish that I liked.  Here it is.  I liked it.

What you need:  Radicchio, Parmesan, Olive Oil, Balsamic (preferably aged, the syrupy stuff), salt

Preheat your oven to 450. 
Cut the bottom off your radicchio like your old sweatpants, get rid of the first few outer leaves that are all crusty and dinosaur looking.  Spread the rest out on A) a cookie sheet if you want crispy brown stuff or B) an oven-safe lasagna pan if you want them a little softer.  
toss them with olive oil.
grate some parmesan all over those bitter sons of guns.  
bake for 10 minutes.
drizzle balsamic on the top and eat.  

the stems should still have that bitter bite, but the leaves will be buttery awesomeness covered with a parmesan crust. Take that radicchio. 




Posted by Mister Gardner

Haul

Week 1 of Summer Season

May 29th- June 1st

Roots

Red Beets, Carrots, Easter Egg Radish

Shoots

Opal Basil, Cabbage, Celery, Rainbow Chard, Fennel, Lacinato Kale, Green or Red Lettuce, Radicchio,  Culinary Sage

Flowers and Fruits

SunFlowers

Coming Soon

Basil, Onion, Thyme, Garlic

*contents in the box may vary in the week

Check the blog for recipes. Please send us your recipes to share via email: riogozofarm@gmail.com,
by commenting on the blog,
or on our facebook page
Rio Gozo Farm Ventura CSA.

Retro Beet Salad

Ingredients:

About 6 beets with greens - I used gold & red together
3 oranges
1 small onion cut in wedges
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves minced
orange zest just a little

Directions:
Cut greens off beets, discard stems, chop leaves and set aside. Roast your beets the way you know how.  Peel and quarter beets, then quarter again, so you have 8 wedges per beet.  Put it in a bowl. A pretty bowl with nice pretty pictures on it.  Cook the greens in some boiling water for about 2 minutes, til they're tender, but not overly emotional.  Drain, cool with cool water, then squeeze gently, like you're hugging your grandma, to get rid of excess water.  Reunite the beets with their greens in the bowl.  Get your oranges, cut the peel and pith off, then cut wedges. Throw them in the melee with the beets and greens.  Make a dressing with the other stuff. Whisk it like it was bad.  Then toss to coat and chill for an hour. Use Salt and Pepper if you like it. Eat. Enjoy.   Pee red for a little while.

Posted By Mister Gardner

The Haul

Week 12 of Spring Season

May 22nd- 25th

Roots

Red Beets, Carrots, Easter Egg Radish

Shoots

Arugula, Green Cabbage, Celery, Cilantro, "Puntarelle' Dandelion, Mixed Green and Red Lettuce, "Tardivo" Radicchio, 

Flowers and Fruits

Basil, Broccoli, SunFlowers

Coming Soon

Basil, Onion, Thyme, Garlic

*contents in the box may vary in the week

Check the blog for recipes. Please send us your recipes to share via email: riogozofarm@gmail.com,
by commenting on the blog,
or on our facebook page
Rio Gozo Farm Ventura CSA.

Cabbage Mash-up by Mister Gardner

Ingredients:

2 lbs of cabbage. (quartered, cored, sliced thin crosswise)

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups carrots grated and peeled (white & orange!)

about 4 green onions, thinly sliced

1/4 -1/2 cup mayonnaise

Directions:

Put cabbage, sugar and vinegar in a large bowl and toss to coat the cabbage.

Cover the bowl.  

Wait about 30 minutes, then toss cabbage again. Cover the bowl and wait another 30 minutes.

Drain the cabbage. (you can do this ahead of time, just put the cabbage in the fridge and do something else for a while like take the kids for a walk, play scrabble, write a blog)  

Add carrots, green onions and mayonnaise. 

Toss to coat. 

 Serve.  

Eat.  

Use salt and pepper if you want it.