Weekly Newsletter 18

Casalegno Family Farm Weekly

This week I have included a guide to the 5 types of heirloom tomatoes we are growing here on the farm.  You will find some combination of these tomatoes in addition to the more obvious little red Early Girl’s with their distinctive tangy tomato flavor.  Each heirloom is different in flavor as well as look – have fun identifying the different types in your box!                                    

In this week's Full Share Box:
Early Girl and Heirloom Tomatoes
Sweet and Bell Peppers
Romano Beans
Carrots
Beets
Apples
Zucchini and Summer Squash
Basil






HEIRLOOM TOMATOES

←BRANDYWINE

Amish Heirloom.  Beautiful, large, pink fruit.  Beefsteak size.  Sweet, rich complex flavor. 

YELLOW BRANDYWINE →

Similar to the much loved Brandywine, but a bit zingier.   Stronger, rich tasting solid yellow fruit. 

 

← CHEROKEE PURPLE

Unique dusty rose color with greenish shoulders.   Very tasty fruit has a smoky sweet flavor.   Ark of Taste selection.

                  

                        Big Rainbow → 

Orange and gold with a lot of red striping.  Dense in taste, as if all the colors were accompanied by their own specific flavors. An exciting eating experience!

 

← Pineapple

Yellow/gold to orangish skin and flesh boasting a sweet luscious flavor with a hint of pineapple. 

 NORTHERN SPY APPLES

Also called the ‘Northern Pie’ or ‘Northern Spie’ Apple, This wonderful heirloom variety is native to New England and was discovered around 1800.  It has a mild tart flavor with great crisp, juicy white flesh.  Although not commonly grown elsewhere, in it’s native area it remains a staple for baking, eating and juicing.

TOMATO STUFFED PEPPERS

Ingredients

·         4 peppers

·         2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

·         3 tablespoons chopped kalamata olives (or any olives)

·         4 tomatoes

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

·         Freshly ground black pepper

·         4 TB toasted pine nuts (you can do this quickly in a hot pan on the stovetop)

·         Few sprigs of fresh basil, coarsely chopped

·         Freshly shaved parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a large, shallow baking dish with Olive oil.

Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, removing the seeds but leaving the stem. Although the stem is not edible it looks good in this dish and helps the pepper retain its shape. Place the peppers cut side up in the baking dish.

Divide the sliced garlic and the olives evenly among the peppers and put in bottom of each. Cut each tomato into wedges and stuff wedges into each pepper on top of olives and garlic. Drizzle each stuffed pepper with a little oil and season with a few grinds of pepper.

Roast the peppers for about 40-50 minutes or until they are tender and beginning to brown around the edges.  Remove from oven and top with toasted pine nuts, chopped basil and freshly shaved parmesan cheese.  This recipe can be used with  small peppers and tomatoes for bite size appetizers or larger ones for a delicious veggie side dish!  Cooking time may need to be adjusted depending on size of peppers.

 

 

Jane’s Apple Crisp

My mother in law makes this crisp and it is absolutely wonderful!

·        4-6 apples, peeled and sliced

·        1 TB lemon juice

·        ½ c water or apple juice

·        1 tsp cinnamon

·        ¼ c butter

·        1 c sugar

·        ¾ c flour

·        ¼ c very finely grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter an 8x8” baking dish.  Mix sliced apples, lemon juice, water or apple juice and cinnamon and pour into baking dish.  Cut sugar and flour into butter until crumbly.  Mix in cheese and sprinkle over top of apples in baking dish.  Bake for 1 hour.

Over the next few weeks your CSA sessions will be ending at different points so I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your dedication and support to our little farm this growing season.  It has been a bit of a difficult year in some aspects but you all have been the cornerstones of our operation and made it possible for us to continue to do what we love to do – to grow, learn and connect.   We will continue to be in touch with you all and really hope to see you drop by the farm stand over the late fall/early winter.  Please go to our blog site to continue to get info and updates about activity here on the farm – casalegnofarm.blogspot.com and as always please feel free to contact us for any reason!   Thank you again and enjoy the last bit of the harvest ~

The crew at Casalegno Family Farm