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A Letter from our Farmer Ted
Please note: Fruit shareholders will be getting Yonder Farm’s strawberries. I hope it hasn’t been too many. With cherries a bust, it's difficult to conjure an alternative. The season will be over soon, and blueberries will be coming along in their place. We have frozen some of our strawberries. We simply cut off the stems, slip them into a zip lock bag and place them in the freezer. They can then be run thru a blender and combined with a favorite beverage (or yogurt or ice cream) for a treat when strawberry season is a distant memory.
Our cucumbers and squashes have taken off because of the sun and heat of the past two weeks. We’ve added a number of new varieties of cucumbers in the search for a long, slender, seedless type that tastes good and yields well. Most of them are yielding well. Feel free to offer any feedback. The broccoli we’ll send this week is also a new variety. It’s called ‘Imperial.’ It seems to me to come without the bitterness of some summer broccolis. What do you think? Next week, we’ll send our first onions – a white cippolini called ‘Bianca,’ bunched red beets and collards. We’ll also be sending cucumbers, zucchinis, various greens, and your choice of dill or cilantro. Our tomatoes are beginning to turn color, our peppers are sizing up, our new potatoes are nearly ready for digging, and Rich Moses tells me the sweet corn is filling out. Summer has arrived in the upper Hudson Valley.
Have a great week,
Ted
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The Green Onion aka Scallion
From SF Gate
Green onions, also known as scallions or spring onions, contain a wide variety of health-enhancing compounds like vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.
Bone health: A single, 12-gram green onion stalk contains nearly 20 micrograms of vitamin K and 1.6 milligrams of vitamin C. For a healthy adult man, this supplies 16 percent of his recommended daily allowance of vitamin K and nearly 2 percent of his vitamin C RDA. For a woman, a green onion stalk provides 22 percent of her daily vitamin K and 2.1 percent of her vitamin C. Both vitamins K and C are crucial for the growth, development and maintenance of strong bones. If your diet lacks these vitamins, you may be more likely to develop osteoporosis or to suffer from bone fractures.
Eye health: The body needs vitamin A to produce rhodopsin, the protein in the eyes that allows retinal receptors to absorb light. People whose diets don't include enough vitamin A can develop night blindness and other vision disorders, including corneal ulcers. A green onion stalk contains 24 micrograms of vitamin A in the form of provitamin A carotenoid compounds that the body converts to retinol, the active form of the vitamin. This amount of vitamin A fulfills 2.6 percent of a man's required daily intake and 3.4 percent of a woman's.
Heart health: The vitamin C and vitamin A found in foods like green onions both have strong antioxidant properties, reports the University of Maryland Medical Center. This means the vitamins can help prevent DNA and cellular tissue damage by inhibiting the activity of free radical compounds. A diet rich in foods with a high antioxidant concentration -- primarily fruits and vegetables -- is linked to a decreased risk of heart disease. Vitamin C may also help prevent high blood pressure, which, in turn, can lower your risk of heart disease.
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Grilled Scallions
From Local Roots NYC
Toss one bunch in olive oil, salt, and pepper and lay scallions on grill. Cook about one min on each side and squeeze half a lemon over.
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Scallion Pancakes, a street food in Taiwan
From Food 52
Dough
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c bread flour
2 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1/2 c warm water
1/4 c room temp water
1/4 c vegetable oil
Scallion oil and filling
2 c diced scallions
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 t salt
1 t ground white pepper
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/8 t baking soda
sea salt to taste
- TO MAKE THE DOUGH: Mix all-purpose flour, bread flour, sugar, and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Bring a small pot of water to 150º F (it should be almost too hot to touch but NOT close to a simmer), then with the machine running on low, add 1/2 cup of the hot water into the flour mixture. Mix for 1 minute or so. The mixture will still look like loose flours with large lumps. Then add 1/4 cup of cold water and mix for 1 minute, and then add 1/4 cup of vegetable oil. Turn the machine to medium-high speed and knead the dough for 5 minutes until shiny and elastic. The dough will be very wet and sticking to the side of the bowl in the beginning (if it seems tacky already, add 1 teaspoon of water), but it should slowly pull away cleanly at the end of kneading. When you lift the dough hook, the wet dough should droop down from the hook slowly.
- If you must knead with your hands, you can. But keep in mind that this is quite a wet dough and it will stick to your hands while kneading. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for at least 1 hour.
- TO MAKE THE SCALLION OIL AND FILLING: Add 1 cup of diced scallions, vegetable oil, salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground white pepper and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer into a bowl. Take 3 tablespoons of the mixture out into another bowl and add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda, mix until combined and keep both in the fridge. Mix the rest of the 1 cup of diced scallion with 1/2 tsp of ground white pepper, set aside.
- TO MAKE THE FLATBREADS: Divide the dough into 4 portions and set on a well-floured surface. Take 1 portion, dust with more flour, and roll it into about a 1/8-inch sheet. Apply a generous layer of scallion oil (mixed with baking soda) and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of diced scallions over the sheet, then fold it in the same direction 3 times (like folding a letter) into a log, then fold the log lengthwise 2 times into a round shape (try to eliminate as much air as possible while you fold). Set aside (to let it rest) and repeat the same process with the other 3 portions.
- Now go back to the first dough you worked on (which has had a few minutes to rest) and press it down gently into a thick, flat disk. There will be air pockets in between the layers which will make it hard to roll out, so pierce the dough a few times with a fork and dust with only enough flour to prevent sticking, then roll into a large circle slightly thicker than 1/16 inch. (Be careful not to over-roll it because you’ll risk flattening all the layers.) If the dough springs back stubbornly, rest it for another 2 min. If you want to keep the flatbreads in the freezer, laminate the rolled-out doughs in between two sheets of parchment paper and tuck inside a zip-lock bag. Keep frozen until needed.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Carefully lift the dough up and transfer to the skillet. Cook over medium-low heat, add more oil if needed, and cook until golden brown on both sides (it’s important to add enough oil). The baking soda will create bubbles in between layers during cookings. Right off the skillet while it’s still hot, brush the top with more scallion oil (without baking soda). Serve immediately.
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