Edition 173

April 2, 2010

• Local Box Contents
• News & Updates
• Recipe Corner
• Greenling Tidbits

• New - Meat Categories, you have always been able to see various local meats in the left-hand navigation, but we learned from the main menu they have been hidden.
• New - Feta, local from Wateroak....real feta is made with goat milk
• New - Strawberries, local from Poteet farms
• Back - Chevre, from Pure Luck
• New - Olive Oils, from Texas Hill Country Olive Co
• Going Away -Turnips, Cilantro, & Collards, from local sources. Ahhh, it was a good collard season. We'll miss you all
• Peak Season - Spinach, Chard, Carrots, & Beetsfrom local sources

Get rewarded for being green!

Did you know you can get $5 off your order by showing us your efforts to be green? Most of your green efforts are thankless so we want to change that by giving you a gift for making the world a little better. Here was Dan's submission -

"Well, I saw the whole $5 off thing for showing off how green you are... So I thought I'd send you a picture of me line drying my cycling gear, which I cycle commute most days that aren't raining (or really cold), and in the back ground you can see our rain barrels which we use to water our organic vegetable and herb garden right next to the house. Oh, plus our back yard is xeriscaped. Hopefully that's green enough to qualify for the $5. :) Thanks! And keep up the great service!"

So, show us YOUR green and get $5 off your next order.

Meet a Greenling Ambassador

We've got a great group of ambassadors that are our connection to the community. They help us find and staff events in the community and get a VIP pass to all things Greenling. They also get some great perks like free tickets to the many events we participate in.

Jenna is our eyes and ears in Georgetown, but most recently we sent her to the Heart Ball put on by the American Heart Association. Her task was just to enjoy the event and evalute whether it was something we should participate in every year. We had donated an awesome package of local food, a farm tour, and a cooking class to immerse one lucky guest in the local food system.

Jenna goes to school at Southwestern, is from San Antonio, and has a weiner dog named Dixie! She wanted to become an ambassador because she believe the food industry in America needs some fixin' and she wants to help.

The Ambassador program is a great way for anyone who doesn't have a lot of time to get involved with the local food system. Read more and apply here.

Farmer-Hero Wateroak Farms

The early days of goat milk products have had a lasting, negative effect. 99% of people I talk to think goat cheese is incredibly bitter. Well, it can be, but it doesn't have to be. Mark & Pam Burow of Wateroak farm in Bryan, Tx, are goat scientists and shared that there's a substance called Caprylic acid that creates the 'goaty' taste in the milk & cheeses. This acid increases in late-pregnancy and right after birth. So Mark & Pam don't use that milk. They wait until the milk has smoothed out to create a much milder flavor that they say hooks everyone after just one try.

We're entering a prime season for goat products! When it was super-cold, milk production pretty much halted. They've recovered now, though, and both Wateroak and the award-winning Pure Luck farms are in full production. They're both small-scale farms and the Burows even know every one of the 80+ goats by name and can interpret their sounds well enough to know just by their voice when they're upset. The Burows put their heart into their operation & products, which are incredibly healthy with tons of calcium & digestive enzymes.

Photograph by Jesse Cordes Selbin.

Come to the Slow Money Austin Showcase

Slow Money Austin is a newly formed group I'm helping launch with the goal of bringing our money back down to earth and into our backyard. SMA is hosting a pair of events this April to talk specifics on how to do this and how to help the local food system thrive! On April 21 is a conference at City Hall featuring a keynote by Woody Tasch, author of Slow Money, experts from around the country joining local leaders to help us envision the future of the local food system as well as Showcase companies that are using or in need of Slow Money (if you know someone needing money for local food ventures, please send them to the Slow Money Austin website).

Then on April 22, Earth Day, SMA has teamed up with the award-winning Dai Due supper club and Barr Mansion Organic events center for an amazing local food fundraising dinner. Join us and help support this cause.

Register for either event here

UPDATE - Malverde has offered to host a happy hour after the showcase with free local-food appetizers for showcase attendees. Tickets are 70% sold so buy yours soon

This Week's Box Contents & Local Items

Wow, those celery were huge. We had no idea they were going to be that massive. The rain and amazing weather is making for some amazing spring treats. One coming this week, that doesn't even come every year, is strawberries. It takes very mild weather for these to grow in abundance and we've got it this year. Hopefully we'll have several weeks of these delicious treats locally. And like many fruit - you haven't had one until you've had one that's local & fresh.

Here's what will be available from local farms on our website this week (the best selection of local produce in the state - guaranteed):

In Local Boxes ($34.99) this week (Apr 5-9):

• Red Spring Onion - My Father's Farm
• Flat Leaf Parsley - Animal Farm
• Baby Bok Choy - Animal Farm
• Carrots - Acadian, My Father's Farm
• Mixed Baby Greens - My Father's Farm
• Mushrooms - Kitchen Pride
• Strawberries - Poteet
• Oranges - G&S
• Spinach - Naegelin
• Kale - Texas Natural

Last Week's (Mar 29-Apr 2) Local Box Video:

In Farmstead Boxes this week (Apr 5-9):

• Pastured Chicken or Duck Eggs - Vital or Purple Goose
• Goat Milk or Artisan Cheese - Wateroak or Brazos
• Sourdough Boule - Sweetish Hill

Order Here

Fresh, Prepared Meal Selection for this week:

Dish #1 - Spinach Almond Fusilli w/ Feta & Olives(1 pint - serves 1 for lunch) - This is without a doubt one of our favorite spinach recipes. Tasty Texas spinach (from Oak Hill Farms in Poteet, TX) is pureed with roasted almonds, basil and olive oil into a fine pesto, then tossed with warm, al dente fusilli (corkscrew) pasta. As it cools, we fold in creamy feta and Kalamata olives for a delicious pasta salad, perfect for lunch on the go.

-Ingredients: semolina pasta, spinach, olive oil, almond, lemon, garlic, feta, olive, market vegetables, herbs, salt, pepper

Dish #2 - Spiced Chickpea Soup(1 pint) - A warm & creamy soup, without the cream. Instead, we simmer chickpeas with a mild Indian curry, ginger, tomatoes and cool coconut milk. We blend it until silky smooth and garnish with more curried chickpeas and scallions. A delicious way to enjoy fiber-rich chickpeas.

-Ingredients: chickpeas, vegetable stock, coconut milk, tomato, olive oil, onion, ginger, garlic, apple, scallion, herbs, spices, salt, pepper

Produce from Local Farms

• Herb, Asst. - Pure Luck
• Herbs, Basil, Live - Bella Verdi
• Sunflower Sprouts - Groovy Greens
• Lettuce, Baby - Animal Farm and My Father's Farm
• Lettuce, Bibb - Bella Verdi
• Meyer Lemons - G&S Groves
• Kale - Naegelin
• Mars Orange - G&S Grove
• Grapefruit - G&S Grove
• Limes - G&S Grove
• Green Leaf Lettuce - The Farm Patch
• Romaine Lettuce - The Farm Patch
• Red Leaf Lettuce - The Farm Patch
• Spinach - Naegelin
• Baby Spinach - Animal Farm
• Green Shallots - Lundgren and Acadian
• Pea Shoots - Bluebonnet
• Watercress - Bluebonnet
• Artichoke - Miguel Farm
• Celery - Finca Pura Vida

Produce from Local Farms

• Microgreens, Arugula - Bella Verdi
• Microgreens, Broccoli - Bella Verdi
• Mushroom, Crimini - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, Portabella - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, Shiitake - Kitchen Pride
• Mushroom, White - Kitchen Pride
• Potatoes, Sweet -Naegelin
• Red Radish - My Father's Farm
• Daikon Radish - Green Gate
• Green Garlic - Green Gate
• White Spring Onion - My Father's Farm
• Onion, Yellow - Naegelin
• Arugula - Acadian
• Baby Arugula - Acadian
• Green Cabbage - Naegelin
• Tomatoes - Village Farm
• Broccoli - Various
• Collard Greens - Naegelin
• Mustard Greens - Naegelin
• Cilantro - My Father's Farm
• Kohlrabi - My Father's Farm
• Strawberries - Poteet Farm
• Baby Bok Choy - Animal Farm
• Flat Leaf Parsley - Animal Farm

Events & Local Food Happenings Around Town

Stone Soup Party

-April 10th, 3-6pm (kid friendly)

-$10 donation to Sustainable Food Center

-1 vegetarian ingredient

You know this story! It's time to share it with your kids. David Ansel (aka The Soup Peddler) and Mason Arnold of Greenling are throwing a party on April 10th from 3-6pm for friends and families to celebrate together for a cause: healthy, local, affordable food for all - the mission of Sustainable Food Center! Bring a vegetarian ingredient, no more than will fill your belly, to contribute to the pot. Soup Peddler provides the stones and Greenling brings the libations. We’ll have a reading of Stone Soup story for kids. Outdoors, weather-permitting.

RSVP here

Local Box Workshop

-Saturday, Apr 17th

-9:30am - 2:00pm

-$8

-Faraday's Kitchen Store (map)

Join Chef Andrew Brooks (spiritedfood.com) for our Local Box Workshop at Faraday's Kitchen Store, as he shows you easy recipes and storage tips for using fresh, seasonal produce. You'll leave armed with a variety of ways to use what's local and in-season right now!

We will offer three sessions of this workshop with 15-person capacity for each at 9:30 am, 11:15 am, and 1:00 pm (1-hour sessions). Call 266-5666

Film Screening of The Garden

-April 20th, 7:30pm

-Free thanks to Greenling

-Bob Bullock Museum (map)

Join the Austin Film Festival for a presentation of the Academy Award nominated documentary, The Garden. Greenling is sponsoring this film that tells the story of a fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles – the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community.

But now bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis. The Garden follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers.

Admission is free, but you must rsvp to rsvp@austinfilmfestival.com

Recipe Corner

Strawberry Shortcake w/ Meyer Lemon Cream

from Food & Wine

Ingredients: Biscuits

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  
• 3/4 cup cake flour
  
• 3 tablespoons sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
  

Ingredients: Lemon Cream

• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, preferably from Meyer lemons
  
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
  
• 1 large egg
  
• 1 large egg yolk
  
• Pinch of salt
  
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 1 cup heavy cream
  

Instructions:

MAKE THE BISCUITS: Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large bowl, whisk the all-purpose and cake flours with the sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the cold butter until it is the size of small peas. Stir in the cream until a shaggy dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead 2 or 3 times, just until it comes together. Roll the dough into a 7-inch round, about 3/4 inch thick. Using a 2 3/4-inch or 3-inch biscuit cutter, stamp out 5 biscuits. Gently gather the scraps and reroll them; cut out 1 more round so you have a total of 6 biscuits.

Transfer the biscuits to a baking sheet and brush with the melted butter. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar on top and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the biscuits are golden. Let cool.

MEANWHILE, MAKE THE LEMON CREAM: Set a strainer over a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, combine half of the lemon zest with the lemon juice, sugar, egg, egg yolk, salt and 1 tablespoon of the butter. Cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Immediately strain the curd into the bowl. Whisk in the remaining lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of butter. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate until cool, about 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, softly whip the cream. Fold the lemon curd into the whipped cream and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

PREPARE THE STRAWBERRIES: In a medium bowl, toss the strawberries with the sugar and let stand for 15 minutes.

Split the biscuits in half and arrange the bottom halves on plates. Mound the lemon cream on the biscuits, top with the strawberries and their juices and replace the tops. Serve right away.

For More Recipes Check Out The Eating Out of the Local Box Blog. Also make sure to become a fan of Greenling on Facebook to get weekly recipes from Woman With A Whisk & The Best of Thymes food bloggers.