Driftless Organics

This week's Driftless Box was amazing! We made gorgeous quiche with corn, roasted tomato and poblano, caramelized onion and Hook's cheddar. Look for potato and roasted corn chowder, and heirloom tomatoes on salads and roasted in soups.
For those of you at home, the day I got my own CSA box I was able to make a Driftless Dinner that my family loved. Fresh sweet corn, heirloom tomato salad with arugula, sweet watermelon, and tortilla espanol made with Driftless pinky-red potatoes.

Driftless Organics Summer Vegetarian Minestrone

Our new Driftless Organics summer soups are coming along very nicely. This week we (yes I mean David) made a beautiful vegetarian minestrone using driftless CSA ingredients like cauliflower, zucchini, onions and green beans. Check out the picture! We used our CSA basil finely sliced and some shredded asiago cheese on top and I couldn't have been more pleased with the results. Soup, salads, and quiche have been our best way of absorbing the wide variety of veggies we get through our CSA box. Having a base soup or quiche recipe that can vary according to what's in season is key to not wasting those beautiful crops.

Driftless Organics Summer minestrone

Ingredients:

1 ¼ c Potatoes
4 ½ c vegetable broth
4 ½ cups cold water
3 Bay leaves
3 Sage leaves
2 sprigs Oregano
1-2 T Olive oil
2 t Dried Basil
2 t Dried Oregano
6 Cloves garlic diced
2 Carrots Coarsely chopped*
1 Red bell pepper coarsely chopped
1-2 small Zucchini quartered
¼ c red wine**
1 32oz can of tomatoes plus juice***
Fresh basil and grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

*vegetables can be substituted, Squash; cauliflower, eggplant, beans etc...Go for color!
** Balsamic vinegar is an excellent substitute.
***you can use more or less of the tomatoes depending on you personal taste.

Directions

Saute your potatoes for about 5-10 minutes* Set aside.
Heat the oil in the bottom of a large soup pot
Add the onion and herbs and saute over medium heat until onions become soft, about 7-10 min
Add the garlic, peppers, zucchini, carrots **
Add the wine or rice wine vinegar, cook until the pan is almost dry
Add tomatoes plus juice
Add 1-2 t salt, and 3-4 pinches of pepper Simmer for 15-20 minutes
Add potatoes (any other vegetables left, beans, cauliflower, etc) and bay leaf
Simmer for an additional 20 minutes until potatoes and other veggies are soft
Season with salt pepper to taste
Top with fresh parmesan and finely stripped basil

* This will help with the breakdown of the potatoes in relation to the time it will take for the rest of the vegetables.
** Or other veggies, Be careful to adjust for time. Add vegetable with a longer cook time now, and ones with a shorter cook time later.

Three Cheers for Lapham

All of our hard work and time seemed to pay off today when we were able to serve fresh spinach with tahini dipping sauce to 6 classrooms for snack. This spinach (and some beautiful radishes) was student-grown and student-picked. I can't think of anything like it in all of Madison. As Sophia's teacher Mark said, "this is what science should be." YEAH! Today it feels like we pulled off something incredible for the kids.

Just in Time before the Rain...

We had some good, wholesome fun in the Lapham Garden on Tue. night. LOTS of weeding, pruning a sage, and, everyone's favorite, the compost pile. What a fabulous, stinky, STEAMING mess it was! Trace & Asher did tons of hard work pulling the pile apart, then Chris & I added 4 buckets of egg shells & coffee grounds and a big bag of carrot peels from Mermaid. Lucky Chris made it all the way through on account of his low zinc problem. We had blisters, nosebleeds, and a break for sandwiches. The elusive Shadowy Shanooners was sighted. Hazel tried to capture her (see side pic) but, as always, was unsuccessful. Lapham Parent Randy turned a huge section of the garden over while his son Trace turned the compost and weeded....

Mother's Day Brunch with Morgan's Resurrection

We're hoping to have something new and exciting for our Mother's Day brunch. Twenty years ago I worked for a guy named Chuck Mann. Chuck was skinny, super high strung, an avid smoker, and good lord could he cook. ANYTHING! I don't really remember why he was knocking around Madison but I still miss his food (I don't miss his pointed criticisms of my work habits. They were true...but still). Through the miracle of having worked at a bar I was able to track down Chuck and get his recipe for my favorite blender Hollandaise sauce. We've been playing with the poaching and with the sauce. Carrie from Jordandal helped us to find the perfect Canadian bacon. And, of course, those beautiful New Century Farm eggs!

Colin Emerges from Hiding to Garden

Everyone was really pleased to see that Colin and Cristen feel that they are able to move more freely now that the timber industry lawyers and their henchman have left town. Colin surprised us at Lapham Garden last night showing up with some root beer and ready to dig! Isis transmogrified into human form and brought her husband and daughter. Corinne is a chip off the old block, bringing a unicorn in a box for our night helping out. It punctured the box several times but didn't get out. Corinne is the result of Isis' coupling with mortal Chris Stephens in a moment of weakness. We turned the compost, weeded the daffodils, and dug over some winter wheat.

Recipe for Banh Mi Chay (Vegetarian Banh Mi) Serves 3-4

You will need: Fresh baguette♥Aioli or mayonnaise♥Baked lemongrass tofu ♥Carrot/Daikon slaw (do chua) ♥Cucumber in thin slices or matchsticks♥Cilantro sprigs♥Optional: Bird chili peppers in slices

Lemongrass Tofu:

1 pkg of firm tofu
1/2 C peanut or vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
5 T soy sauce
2 t salt
2 t fresh ground black pepper
1 t turmeric
1 t sesame oil
1-2 bulbs of fresh lemongrass. When chopped should be about 3 tablespoons.
Optional: crushed dried chili to taste

Instructions: Drain tofu. Slice into ¼ inch pieces. Smash chopped lemongrass in mortar & pestle or with rolling pin in plastic bag. Marinate with rest of ingredients for at least an hour. Pan fry or bake at 350° for 15 minutes.
Carrot/Daikon Pickle (Do Chua)

1 C Daikon radish
1 C Carrot
¼ C white vinegar
¼ C white sugar
pinch salt

Instructions:
Heat in saucepan until dissolved. Place in icebath or fridge to cool.

Matchstick radish and carrot by hand or on mandolin. Pour cooled marinade over slaw.


Assemble in above order♥♥♥ Veggie Variations: Roasted eggplant, mushrooms, celery, variety radishes, peppers. Meat Variations: Lemongrass beef, minced pork, ham, pork liver pate, scrambled egg.