Summer CSA Week 8

I fully recognize that the last few weeks when I have begun these posts, I haven't had great farm news to share. My rooster and chicken gone. My duck hit on the road. These are things that are very difficult to bear. I wish it had gotten better, but again today the news is bad. Actually much worse than bad.

Pickle, a farm favourite and my beloved cat of many years suffered a stroke last night. At the vet today we learned that it was the result of a brain tumour and nothing can be done.Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for us all as I take him back to the vet again for the last time. I am so sad, so you will likely note a lack of joviality in this post.  For that I apologize.  Sometimes I wonder if I am cut out to handle all this.

The baskets today had quite a bit in them.  Beans, tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers of different colours, an herb bundle with basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, mint and leaf celery, cabbage, kales, and then the following possible suspects depending on the basket-zucchini, tomatillos, ground cherries, eggplant, pickling melons (a bit fuzzy and eat them like cukes). If you are unfamiliar with the tomatillos, they are the larger husked fruit and are essential for salsa verde. If you've been in my CSA before though, you'll no doubt recognize them.

One of my favourite things to do with lots of these veggies, is to create sauce for pasta. I'm not sure there should be any rules at all about what can go in tomato sauce. Tonight in mine I added tomatoes, unpeeled to a pan of sizzling onion and garlic. Throw in some peppers, both sweet and hot, kale, beans, some apple from one of my trees, basil, thyme, leaf celery a bit of kosher salt and a pinch of cinnamon and voila. It was good. The cabbage is so young and sweet that I just slice it into chunks and serve as is. Homemade bread on the side (see my no knead bread recipe on this blog), dessert from Rise Above in St Catharines and we're all good.

Or if you feel more adventurous, try this. It's delicious!

Cabbage Koora

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 dried red chile peppers, broken into pieces
• 1 tablespoon skinned split black lentils (urad dal)
• 1 teaspoon split Bengal gram (chana dal)
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 sprig fresh curry leaves
• 1 pinch asafoetida powder
• 4 green chile peppers, minced
• 1 head cabbage, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup frozen peas (optional)
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup grated coconut

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; fry the red chile peppers, urad dal, chana dal, and mustard seed in the hot oil. When the urad dal begins to brown, add the curry leaves and asafoetida powder; stir. Add the green chile peppers and continue cooking 1 minute more. Stir the cabbage and peas into the mixture; season with salt; cook and stir until the cabbage begins to wilt, but remains somewhat crunchy, about 10 minutes. Toss the coconut into the mixture and cook for 2 minutes more. Serve immediately.