Earlier in the season, we got some radishes.  I’m just not that into radishes, but this year I was on a mission to use all that I got to the full potential.  I used them in salads - green, tuna and rice salads.  I kind of started to like them.  My friend in Vermont also got radishes from her CSA and told me about this radish top soup.   I was curious, but it was too late, no more radishes.  Until two weeks ago.  I got a small bunch of radishes, not enough to make the soup, but I didn’t use them and then last week in the free bin SCORE!  Radishes!  Loads of radishes!  I made the soup.  It was on one of the chilly fall nights last week.  I didn’t really know what to expect.  Well . . . it was perfect.  Cozy and comforting and a little bit like baby food.  And it was super simple.  I’m hoping for another score this week in the free bin.  I used the tops of four bunches.  Now I have plenty of radishes left over and a little bird told me I can roast them.  We’ll see.  I am going to make this soup again.  I’m hoping for another score this week in the free bin.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 medium red potatoes, diced
• 4 cups raw radish greens
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup milk
• 5 radishes, sliced

Directions

1. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion, and saute until tender.
2. Mix in potatoes and radish greens, coating them with butter.
3. Pour in chicken broth.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.
5. Allow the soup mixture to cool slightly, and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth.
6. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Mix in the milk.
7. Cook and stir until well blended. Serve with radish slices.

In the past, the city used to collect leaves from residents, compost them, and then host a “Free Compost Giveback” twice a year. Over the years, the program shrank until it was no more. In an effort to gather support for Fall Leaf Collection and Compost Givebacks, Beth Mathes, of East New York Farms will be coming to distribution today to set up a call station as part of a “Compost to Council Shout-Out” call our City Council rep, Mathieu Eugene to reinstate the pickup of leaves in our communities and compost them. Read the rest of this entry »

This week meet a CSA family!

Who are you? We are Eric Haber, Gretchen Maneval, our 7-month old son Sebastian, and our dog Winnie (though she doesn’t get to enjoy much of the CSA).

What do you do? Eric is a School Social Worker at Brooklyn Generation School, a new public small high school in Canarsie (www.brooklyngeneration.org). Gretchen in the Director of the Center for the Study of Brooklyn, a Brooklyn-focused think-tank based at Brooklyn College (www.studybrooklyn.org). Sebastian crawls around and loves to laugh, and Winnie gives licks and catches Frisbees.

Where do you live? We live on Lincoln Place in Crown Heights.

Where did you grow up? We both grew up in Maryland, Eric in the DC area and Gretchen in Baltimore.

How long have you been a member? This is our first year with the PLG CSA.

When you do your pickup where are you coming from? Eric typically does our pick-ups, and he is generally coming from a long day at his school.

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This week check out member, Amy Plattsmier’s recipe that uses potatoes, parsnips and a food mill. Yum!

When my packrat husband, Jason, and I were slogging through the process of signing up for a wedding registry 10+ years ago, I nixed many items he wanted to include, one of them being a Williams Sonoma food mill. Not having any idea what a food mill was, I never gave the omission a second thought, that is, until I had a baby. All of the baby books with sections on making one’s own baby food extolled incessantly the virtues of the food mill, but still I stubbornly chose the back of a fork to mash freshly steamed squash or banana for my toothless child.

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Tonight was one of those nights when I came home from work and realized we have another delivery tomorrow, and I still had a fridge full of stuff from last week. Eek! Plus I also had a leftover container of takeout rice. (Why, you ask, did I order Chinese takeout the other day when I had a ton of CSA veggies sitting around? Because I’m a bad person, and very lazy.) But anyway, never fear, because fried rice came to the rescue! Here’s my recipe:

Heat some peanut or canola oil in a wok or frying pan. Add a clove of chopped garlic, a little grated ginger, and a chopped scallion, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the leftover rice, crumbing it with your fingers if it’s clumpy. Stir frequently for a few minutes, and then add some chopped veggies. I tossed in broccoli, eggplant, tatsoi, green bell pepper, and hot red pepper, but you can really improvise here. Cook until the veggies are tender but still crisp. I also like to add some egg in my fried rice, so I made a little hole in the middle of the rice/veggie mixture, cracked an egg in there, and scrambled it in. Then sprinkle on a splash of soy sauce, mix it all up a little more, and it’s done. You could also add tofu, chicken, or pork for protein instead of the egg. I should have taken a picture of this, but I was so hungry I just dug in and totally forgot. But trust me, it looked delicious (and tasted pretty good too).

If your weekends are starting to slow down now that summer is officially over, check out the ArtMart this Saturday on Lincoln Road between Flatbush and Ocean.  There will be crafts to buy, Maple Street is having the annual fundraiser tag sale and if you haven’t already, you can check out the murals on Flatbush and Lincoln.  They are pretty awesome.

On Sunday, Atlantic Avenue closes down for ten blocks between Hicks and 4th Avenue.  It’s the Atlantic Antic, the annual festival features live FREE music, food and plenty of stuff for kids to do like pony rides and face painting.   It’s also one of your last chances to get summer festival street food.  Mozzarepa anyone?

It’s the perfect weekend to hang out and love living in Brooklyn.  

Happy Fall, all!

This week, meet the artist, Lizzie.

Who are you? Lizzie Scott

What do you do? I’m an artist.

Where do you live? Here!

 Where did you grow up? We moved a lot– I was born in Chicago, lived in North Carolina, Rhode Island, New Jersey. My father moved to NY when I was in High School, so I spent a lot of time here.

 How long have you been a member? This is our first year.

When you do your pickup where are you coming from? The playground or an adventure with the kids. Tuesday is one of my “home days.”

Where are you going to? Home for an early dinner.

What are you never without at pickup?  Nadia, my 18 month old.

What time is it usually? 5:00

Who cooks your veggies/fruits? Mostly me, sometimes my husband, Eric Eisner.

Who eats them? Everyone.

What do you think you use the most? Swiss Chard or tomatoes

What’s your favorite fruit or veggie score? Tomatoes or salad turnips.

What’s the best part of the CSA? Knowing so well where the food comes from.

Is there a fun fact about you that you would like to share? All my fingers bend backward.

 If you were a fruit or veggie what would you be?  Why? All of them sometimes.

Check out Lizzie’s work at lizziescott.net

In my three years as a member, I manage to always be otherwise engaged for any farm trips.  I’m always disappointed to miss it.  I’ve gone on the website a lot to show my kids pictures of the animals and I vow that I will make it up to see them in person.  But it never works out.  Until this year.  I was so happy that the barbeque was on a day I was free.  My husband was happy that the menu included pulled pork.  It’s one of our favorite things.

So even though a 5 hour roundtrip with two kids 3 and under can be dicey, we were excited.  We got up there faster than expected.  We immediately shed our sweatshirts, it was a beautiful day.  There was chickens running around everywhere along with a couple of strutting roosters. Read the rest of this entry »

There are many food justice events going on this week and next!

Various dates, places and times:
Brooklyn Food Coalition Neighborhood Meetings

Thursday, September 24, 2009
Tomatoes: The Late Blight Catastrophe, the Controversies, the Culinary Joys

Friday, October 2, 2009:
Slow Food for the Urban Kitchen: Nourishing Local Food from the Slow Cooker

Saturday, October 3, 2009
Preserving the Local Harvest with Lacto-fermentation

Sunday, October 11, 2009
Tour de Hudson Bicycle Tour

Read on for event description, location and other details.

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Tour de Farms is a unique eco-tourist event that will promote local farms in the Hudson Valley on October 11, 2009 through a unique bicycle tour.

The bike tour will consist of several routes of varying length throughout southern Ulster County’s scenic farms and farm stands.  After the tour, a gathering at Phillies Bridge Farm will feature skill-sharing workshops led by farmers and community members. Topics will include gardening, cooking, and food storage techniques. Local caterers and restaurateurs will also be offering local food creations for purchase.
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