In your boxes…

potatoes More red potatoes–Rachel made a mean scolloped potato dish with these last night.  It got COLD in our storage room–we had a heater to keep things above freezing, but we worry some might have frozen.  We looked them over well and think yours are all okay, but if there are some with bad spots, sorry!

onions

shallots These are somewhere between onions and garlic in flavor–use them to flavor your dishes much like garlic.  They have a distinct flavor.  We like them.

apples Mix of gala, honeycrisp, red delicious, all local.  Stored properly, it is amazing how late we can eat local apples!

arugula Arugula has a distinct flavor, somewhat spicy.  Cook or eat fresh (our preference).

spinach Spinach is phenominally resilient!  It can freeze into a bundle of dark icey leaves, then thaw and look perfect.  Enjoy!

head lettuce Head lettuce is not known for its resilience, but nonetheless we found these heads alive and well under protection in our greenhouse

hakurai turnips

Down on the Farm

Proust says that it is the times of struggle that we should cherish–the “good years” are fluff.   Struggle builds our character, shapes us into who we are, makes our eyes blue or green instead of gray, I guess.  (The movie Little Miss Sunshine is based on this idea…)  True or not, this week–with bitter cold and blasted wind–was a struggle week!

On Wednesday I (Ben) was out working the greenhouse when a gust of wind broke a heavy duty nylon “wind rope” that holds down a roll-up curtain that runs the length of the greenhouse.  The curtain started flapping like a chicken wing, and 60 mph winds rushed into the greenhouse.  Bad news!  Greenhouses are essential giant kites that you stake to the ground (in our case, we poured over 3000 lbs of cement).  And they don’t like to stay staked!  So when it’s windy the trick is to keep wind out of the greenhouse.  Fortunately, I mustered the strength the pull down the curtain and screw it into the baseboard before it blew to Michigan.

But I didn’t sleep well that night, wondering whether the screws would hold or whether my endwalls were strong enough.  Sun came up, I hustled out, two greenhouses still standing, big sigh.

Recipe of the week

Prep Time: 0 hour, 20 minutes

Cook Time: 0 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 cups diced potatoes (about 1/2-inch dice)
• 7 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 3/4 cup milk, low fat is fine
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• dash nutmeg, optional
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan or Peccorino Romano cheese, divided
• 1 cup soft bread crumbs

Preparation:

Butter a 2-quart baking dish. Heat oven to 400°.

Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat to medium, cover, and continue boiling for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add flour and stir until blended and bubbly. Add the milk and continue cooking, stirring, until thickened. Stir in salt, pepper, and nutmeg, if using.

Reserve about 1/2 cup of the Cheddar cheese and 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan or Romano; set aside. Add the remaining Cheddar and Romano or Parmesan cheese to the sauce and continue cooking, stirring, just until cheese is melted. Add the drained potatoes and stir gently to coat thoroughly. Transfer the potato mixture to the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the reserved Cheddar and Parmesan or Romano cheeses over the potato mixture.

Melt the remaining butter and toss with the bread crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over the cheese layer.

Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven on broil and broil for a minute or so, just until nicely browned.
Serves 4 to 6.