Sunchokes aka Jerusalem Artichokes

Despite the fact that one of the sunchoke's official names is the Jerusalem artichoke, it isn't related to the artichoke (or Jerusalem) at all. The sunchoke is actually related to the sunflower and is native to North America. Basically, the sunchoke is having an identity crisis. The ginger-looking tuber (an outgrowth of a stem) contains no oil and is high in protein, making this a popular substitute for potatoes. The best part? You don't have to peel these before roasting (though you can, if you prefer). We like doing a simple roasted sunchoke and have shared the recipe below, but here are some other ways to use these fun tubers:

Thinly slice them and toss them in your salad (like this Brussels sprout and sunchoke salad)
Pickle them (try swapping them for the jalapenos in this recipe)
Combine them with your mashed potatoes, or try them mashed on their own

Herb Roasted Sunchokes

Ingredients:
1 pound sunchokes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon rosemary, minced
salt to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Scrub the sunchokes and remove any excess stringy bits. Drizzle the olive oil over the top and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and rosemary. Bake the sunchokes for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the sunchokes turn golden brown.

Serve warm and enjoy!

How To Add Sunchokes and Rosemary To Your Delivery: CSA members - head on over to our online Farm Stand Market to customize your upcoming delivery. The Market is open from noon on Thursday until 10 am, 2 days before your scheduled delivery day. After you confirm your produce items, click the orange button "Confirm and Continue To Other Farm Products" to add the products to your delivery. 

Not part of our farm family? Find out if we deliver to your neighborhood.

Hostess Gift Ideas For The Holidays

The holiday season is upon us!! It's time for drinking eggnog, eating too many slices of pie and the best part -- parties! Getting invited to a holiday party can be nerve-racking, especially if the host or hostess says "just bring yourselves," because you can't show up empty handed! We have a list of some fun gift ideas that your host or hostess is sure to love. The best part? You can get all of them delivered in your box!

Happy Girl Marmalades

We have a variety of marmalade flavors from Happy Girl Kitchen Co. including Meyer Lemon Ginger, Meyer Lemon, Pink Grapefruit, and "Da Bears" Lime. Bring one (or a few!) of these for your host or hostess to spread on bread, crackers or as a pancake topping.

Fall Cutie Bouquet, Thomas Farms

This bright and colorful bouquet is sure to brighten any room or table! If you're showing up the day of a big dinner, we recommend bringing a vase (or a large Mason jar) so you don't have to make your host or hostess search for one while they're in the middle of perfecting the gravy.


Culinary Seed Set

This is the perfect gift for your gardening-loving host or hostess. Give them one of our three-seed collection sets and let them experience a gift that truly keeps on giving:

• The Culinary Herb Collection comes with 11 organic heirloom varieties and information on how to dry and use herbs: Genovese basil, cilantro (coriander), dill, fennel, thyme, oregano, sage, savory, chives, parsley and rosemary.
• The Urban/Small Garden Collection contains 13 seed varieties that are suited for small spaces and containers including: Galina Tomato, Green Arrow Pea, Chantenay Carrot, Boothby's Blonde Cucumber, Lacinato Kale, Chioggia Beet, California Wonder Pepper, Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash, Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach, Merveille des Quatre Saisons Lettuce, Purple Plum Radish, Genovese Basil Herbs and Kentucky Wonder Pole Bean. This kit would make a great gift and includes a very handy booklet about how to save the seeds from your garden.
• The Founder's Collection contains 22 seed varieties that are rare, extreme weather tolerant and disease resistant including: Black Cherry Tomato, Sweetmeat Winter Squash, Mandan Bride Corn, Armenian Cucumber, Shin Kuroda Carrot, Bulls Blood Beet, Scarlet Runner Bean, Amish Paste Tomato, Summer Crookneck Squash, De Cicco Broccoli, Red Russian Kale, Giant Musselburgh Leek and more.

Honey and Sea Salt Walnut Butter, Old Dog Ranch

This heavenly spread is made with sustainably grown walnuts, a touch of local honey and a sprinkle of salt. Your host or hostess will love this sweet and salty spread that will take their morning toast or apple slices to a whole new level.

Capay Dried Lavender Bunch

We love this bouquet of dried lavender not only because it looks good, but it smells good, too. Fill your host or hostess' home with the intoxicating scent of lavender this holiday season.


Gourmet Salt Gift Set

These salt sets are the perfect gift for your food-loving host or hostess. The attractive jars and vials add a special touch to the already amazing salts included within them. Choose from these four options:

• Italian Salt Set - includes 3.6 oz jars of Rosemary, Garlic and Tomato Basil salt
• Salt Gift Set - includes vials with samples of Sweet Onion Salt, Habanero Salt, Garlic Salt, Basil Salt, Black Pepper Salt and Pure Flake Finishing Salt. Get a taste of these delicious infused salts and take note of the pairing notes with suggested combinations for each salt. 
• Pure Flake Salt and Peppercorn Set -  (Note: the peppercorn requires a grinder)
• Spicy Salt Set - includes Chili Lime Salt, Ghost Chili Salt and Habanero Salt

What are your go-to host or hostess gift ideas? Let us know in the comments below!

How To Add Host and Hostess Gifts To Your Delivery: CSA members - head on over to our online Farm Stand Market to customize your upcoming delivery. After you confirm your produce items, click the orange button "Confirm and Continue To Other Farm Products" to go to the second page of customizations where all these items are located. The Market is open from noon on Thursday until 10 am, 2 days before your scheduled delivery day. Make sure to click the button that says "Order Selected Items" to confirm adding these products to your delivery. 

Not part of our farm family? Find out if we deliver to your neighborhood.

Hachiya vs. Fuyu Persimmon Lowdown

Persimmons are such a fun fruit we look forward to every year, but knowing the differences between the two main types (Hachiya and Fuyu) is key. Fuyu persimmons are best for eating like an apple and have a unique flavor, spicy sweet with hints of tropical flavors. Some even say they can sometimes detect a hint of cinnamon! Hachiya persimmons on the other hand (pronounced HA-CHEE-YA) are best for cooking and baking. The flesh has a smooth, creamy texture and tangy-sweet flavor.

The trick to cooking with a Hachiya persimmon is to let it get super soft and start to get black spots. The squishy texture should be similar to a seriously over-ripe tomato -- that's when they're perfect to cook with! The black spots are not harmful, don't worry.

We used our Hachiya persimmons to make Persimmon Lemon Bars, or PersEMON bars (ha!)

Persimmon Lemon Bars (aka PersEMON bars)
makes 1 pan PersEMON bars

INGREDIENTS:
For the crust
2 sticks butter (1/2 pound)
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the filling
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
2-3 overripe Hachiya persimmons (see photos above for reference)
1-2 lemons, juiced (approximately 2/3 cup juice)
2/3 cup flour

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Using a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the flour and salt and mix into the butter and sugar mixture until it's just incorporated. You should have a crumbly, dough-like texture. Dump that into the greased pan and flatten into the pan until the whole bottom is covered. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the dough mixture is very lightly browned.

Squeeze the ripe persimmons over a measuring cup to extract the juice and pulp from the skins. Leave out most of the skin if possible. Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, Hachiya pulp, lemon juice and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 20-25 minutes until the filling is set, but still kind of wiggles when you shake the pan. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and dig in!

Photo Credit: Kimberley Hasselbrink

Persimmon with Broiled Goat Cheese:
This dish is almost like a caprese salad with persimmons. We love this festive version -- these would make a quick and delicious appetizer for the holidays when people need to eat, but you need them out of the kitchen.

This is inspired by a dish that I love to serve as an appetizer in the fall. Often I’ll just serve slices of firm Fuyu persimmon with plain goat cheese—that alone is tasty enough to surprise and intrigue guests. But I decided to fancify it a little by broiling the goat cheese, which makes it a warm, melty, tangy, wonderful thing. It’s really important to select firm Fuyu persimmons for this dish. Soft Hachiya persimmons are unripe when firm, and once ripe, they won’t support a slather of cheese.

INGREDIENTS:
4 ounces soft, fresh goat cheese
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Fuyu persimmons, quartered, seeded, and thinly sliced
Fresh thyme, for garnishes

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the broiler.

Place the goat cheese in a ramekin and drizzle the olive oil over the cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil about 6 inches from the heat source for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cheese is a deep golden brown. Allow to cool for a couple minutes.

Spread about a teaspoon of baked goat cheese on each slice of persimmon. Garnish with thyme and black pepper and serve immediately.

***   

Reprinted with permission from Vibrant Food written and photographed by Kimberley Hasselbrink (Ten Speed Press, © 2014)

How To Add Persimmons To Your Delivery: CSA members - head on over to our online Farm Stand Market to customize your upcoming delivery. On the second page of customizations, you’ll find “Produce by the Case” and can stock up if you want a big batch of persimmons. The Market is open from noon on Thursday until 10 am, 2 days before your scheduled delivery day. After you confirm your produce items, click the orange button "Confirm and Continue To Other Farm Products" to add the products to your delivery. 

Not part of our farm family? Find out if we deliver to your neighborhood.