Edition 179

May 14, 2010

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

• Gone - Local Strawberries, we'll miss you, oh great strawberry
• New -Blackberries, from local farms, to ease strawberry withdrawals
• New -Green beans, from local farms
• New -Corn & Squash, from local farms
• Back - Chicken, from local dewberry farms. It's been a tough few months, but they're back in full supply
• New - Oko & Green Truck wines, available in Travis County only

What are 'Seconds'?

When a product is in season we sometimes receive a boatload of it. Also, some produce comes in extra ripe or with a little damage. Since we only deliver the best of the best we sometimes end up with some perfectly good produce that does not meet our quality standards for delivery. We offer these to you at a discount as 'seconds'. It keeps good food from going to our compost pile and offers an economical option for getting local and organic goodness.

Things to know about seconds:

- They are not for everyone

- Seconds are a “Scratch and Dent” item often with some minor damage

- They usually only last a day or two

- We suggest freezing or canning them to extend their life if you don't eat them right away

Seconds are a great way to be sustainable and save some money.

Join Greenling's Kiva Group!

If you haven't heard about it, Kiva's just about the coolest non-profit ever. You get to loan to low income entrepreneurs and make a tangible difference in lives and communities. It's person-to-person micro-lending.

Thanks to Mike Griffin for getting us started and donating $25 to Greenling to lend out. We're going to pass this forward. For the next 2 weeks if you join our team and start lending ($25 or more) we'll give you 10% off your next order. So join our team & spread the Kiva love -

Greenling Kiva Team

Join Kiva, join Greenling's team, and let's fund entrepreneurs around the world.

Local Food Hero - Homestead Heritage & Brazos Valley Cheese

Homestead Heritage makes a lot of things at their craft village at Brazos de Dios in Waco. And from crafts to food, it’s all done the old-fashioned way. The village of craftspeople make their products not to live in the past, but to celebrate the joy and satisfaction that come from creating, with one’s own hands, practical and enduring functional art.

The village hosts about a thousand crafters, including potters, a blacksmith, metalworkers, and furniture makers, each highly skilled in their crafts. Visitors may tour the shops, or even take classes to try their own hands at crafting and homesteading. The 500-acre village is a teaching village, with a traditional, sustainable farm, flower and herb garden, and dairy.

Natural, small-batch foods are also made on-site. A stone gristmill grinds grains with surprising precision, producing flour for cookie and pancake mixes available through Greenling.

Cheesemakers Marc Kuehl and Rebeccah Durkin craft fine cheeses using age-old techniques from their own pastured cows’ milk, supplemented with milk from other local dairy farms. Craft cheeses are made in a pristinely clean kitchen and either aged to ripen, or smoked in a small smokehouse before being aged.

Lots of Brazos Valley’s sustainably produced cheeses are available through Greenling. Look for Parmesan, mozzarella, marinated feta, smoked Gouda, Swiss, and many more.

This Week's Box Contents & Local Items

Here's what will be available from local farms on our website this week (the best selection of local produce in the state - guaranteed). Items with a (*) are only available in the Local Box:

In Local Boxes ($34.99) this week (May 17-21):

• Red Swiss Chard - Acadian
• Red Romaine - Wiley Farm
• Radish - My Father's Farm
• Carrots - Acadian
• Blackberries! - Naegelin
• Beets - Tecolote
• Garlic Chives - Tecolote
• Corn - J&B Farms
• Salad Mix - My Father's

Last Week's (May 10-14) Local Box Video:

In Farmstead Boxes this week (May 17-21):

• Spinach Linguine - Pasta & Co
• Lemon Song Dressing - SASS
• Strawberry Shortcake - Little Bluestem

Order Here

Fresh, Prepared Meal Selection for this week:

Dish #1 - Fresh Corn & Cracked Wheat Salad w/ Lime, Cilantro & Chiles (1 pint - serves 1 for lunch) - The season's first corn is rolling in from the south at J&B Farm in Hondo, TX and we're doing it up in this deliciously creative salad. Plump kernals of corn cut fresh from the cob are paired with fluffy grains of cracked wheat (click for info) and tossed with cilantro, thin-sliced fresh chiles & a lime vinaigrette.

-Ingredients: wheat, corn, olive oil, lime, garlic, onion, vinegar, herbs, spices, salt, pepper

Dish #2 - Bowtie Chicken Salad w/ Preserved Lemon, Scallion & Dill(1 pint) - A surprisingly bright & flavorful chicken salad made with our homemade, Moroccan-style preserved lemons. Tender chunks of Dewberry Farms' Really Good Chicken get tossed with farfalle (bowtie) pasta and mixed with fresh scallions, fresh dill & parsley and capers for a salad bursting with clean, Mediterranean flavors. A new and delicious option to replace routine lunch at work, or a great healthy snack to grab on the go.

-Ingredients: semolina pasta, chicken, olive oil, preserved lemon (lemons, salt, herbs), scallion, capers, red onion, garlic, herbs, 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
• Lettuce, Red Romaine - Wiley Farms
• Kale - Naegelin
• Mars Orange - G&S Grove
• Grapefruit - G&S Grove
• Romaine Lettuce - The Farm Patch
• Spinach - My Father's Farm
• Carrots - Acadian
• Red Swiss Chard - Acadian
• Radish - My Father's Farm
• Green Shallots - Lundgren and Acadian
• Pea Shoots - Bluebonnet
• Watercress - Bluebonnet

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
• Green Garlic - Green Gate
• Spring Onion - My Father's Farm
• Beets - Tecolote
• Corn - J&B Farm
• Green Cabbage - Naegelin
• Collard Greens - Naegelin
• Mustard Greens - Naegelin
• Cilantro - My Father's Farm
• Kohlrabi - Ringger Family Farm/li>
• Blackberries - Naegelin Farm
• Flat Leaf Parsley - Animal Farm

Events & Local Food Happenings Around Town

Kert's Natural Kitchen Cooking Classes & Green Gate Farms

-Saturdays May 8th-22nd, 10am

-Green Gate Farms (map)

This spring, Green Gate Farms is offering hands-on cooking classes in harvesting and preparing a wholesome, delicious meal made from the farm's fresh veggies (also available through Greenling). Taught by chef Kert Peterson of Kert's Natural Kitchen, each class of the 3- part series will focus on the preparation of quick, easy, healthy meals that showcase the seasonal flavors of Green Gate Farms produce. Classes take place in the brand new outdoor cooking pavilion in the herb garden constructed just for the purpose of cooking beside the field of produce. RSVP by calling 512-949-9831. You can take just 1 of the 3 or all 3.

San Antonio Greenling Soiree

-May 22nd, 6pm

-Bismark Studios (map)

Super-cool venue for this Local food Potluck. Bismark Studios is San Antonio's premier North Side Gallery in the Stone Oak area. As usual, we invite you to bring a dish made with local ingredients and the dish voted the best by attendees gets a free Local Box! Greenling will also bring libations and cheer. Come meet other Greenlings and enjoy the local food harvest.

Check out more here

Organic Baby Food Making

-May 28th, 9am and 11am

-Mad Hatters Tea House (map)

Make Mother’s Day last all month! NEVA face+body presents a Pregnancy Care event this May. Join Greenling.com and Well Seasoned Catering for an organic baby food cooking class. Learn how to turn fresh, local and organic ingredients into nutritional nomz for your baby. To RSVP, please call 210-212-4832.

Outstanding in the Field

-Oct 10th(sold out) & 12th

-$200/ticket

-Boggy Creek Farm

Speaking of OITF, the tickets in the Farm To Plate auction item are to the sold-out October 10th dinner. OITF is a world-wide touring event featuring the best food in the world prepared by the best chefs in the world. Carol Ann Sayle and Larry Butler are long time friends of Outstanding in the Field. Back in 2004 on their first cross-country farm dinner tour, they made their last stop in Austin and found the welcoming embrace of Boggy Creek. They return this October for 2 dates only. Chef James Holmes of Olivia is their guest chef. Get your tickets for Oct 12th soon as they sell out quickly.

Learn more here

Slow Money National Gathering

-June 9-12

-$295

-Shelburne Farms, VT (link)

Come to Shelburne Farms, a working farm and forest and National Historic Landmark -- a setting uniquely imbued with the history of capitalism and a nonprofit organization dedicated to forging a new future through sustainability education, creating social enterprises and strengthening local food systems. Enjoy the natural beauty of Lake Champlain. Meet thought leaders and change agents from around the country who are joining in this exciting project: designing capital markets that go beyond extraction and consumption all the way to preservation and restoration… starting with food and soil fertility.

Austin will be well-represented with Mason going, Jerry Cunningham of Coyote Creek, Melanie McAfee of Barr Mansion, Scott Price (formerly Whole Foods), Scott Collier of Slow Money, and more!

Learn More & Register Here

Recipe Corner

Carrot Vichyssoise

Ingredients

• 3 large leeks (1 1/2 pounds), white and light-green parts trimmed
  
• 1 medium clove garlic, minced
  
• 4 small Yukon Gold potatoes (1 1/2 pounds), peeled
  
• 5 carrots (9 ounces), peeled
  
• 2 1/2 cups Homemade Chicken Stock, or canned low-sodium chicken broth, skimmed of fat
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  
• 2 cups whole milk
  
• 3 tablespoons snipped fresh chives
  
• Olive oil
  

Instructions:

1. Coarsely chop leeks; place in bowl of cold water. Let stand 5 minutes to rid them of dirt and sand; lift out of water; drain in colander.

2. Spray bottom of small stockpot with olive-oil spray; place over low heat. Add leeks and garlic; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are wilted, about 12 minutes.

3. Cut 2 potatoes into small chunks; add to leeks. Slice 3 carrots into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; add to vegetables along with stock, salt, pepper, and 2 cups water. Cover partially, raise heat to high, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low; cook until vegetables are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in milk, and puree in blender until smooth. Let stand until cool; refrigerate until cold.

4. Meanwhile, finely julienne remaining 2 potatoes and 2 carrots; place in a small pot of boiling water. Boil until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain; transfer to ice-water bath until cool. Drain; add carrots and potatoes to pureed soup. To serve, divide soup among six bowls, and garnish each with snipped chives.

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.