Getting out of a CSA pickle: Kimchi

Two of the vegetables from this past week's produce share--Napa cabbage and Daikon radishes--are native to Asia. These vegetables might be the ones you take home and leave in your fridge for awhile, not sure what to do. They make a Kentucky cook pause and think for a bit.

For Matt, who works in the warehouse at Grasshoppers, it was obvious what he'd be making if those two ingredients were in his share. At his home, Matt likes to use both cabbage and radishes to make kimchi, a traditional fermented Korean dish.

Kimchi has some great health benefits. Like sauerkraut, kimchi contains live, active bacteria that are beneficial to your digestive system. Matt owns a microscope and can attest to the live bacteria in his own homemade kimchi.

You might consider trying the following kimchi recipe with some of the produce from your share. The recipe is how Matt makes it, but there are other ways it can be done. Alternative main ingredients are cucumber and green onion, depending on what's in season.

Matt's Traditional Korean Kimchi

Ingredients:

Napa cabbage, chopped

Daikon radish, chopped

a number of mason jars

water

sea salt

garlic, minced

fresh ginger, minced

onions, chopped

red chili flakes

In a colander, cover chopped cabbage and radishes with sea salt. Let sit 2 hours.

Make a brine by dissolving 1 tbsp. sea salt to 1 cup water. Make as little or as much brine as you want jars of kimchi.

Rinse cabbage and radishes of excess salt. Place cabbage and radishes into a mason jar, leaving 1.5 inches at the top of the jar to allow the vegetables to expand during fermentation. Add garlic, ginger, onions, and chili flakes (less if you want less spice). Pour the brine into the jar so that it just covers the vegetables. Be sure to press the vegetables down to get rid of any air bubbles.

Place the jar in a safe spot where it can sit for two days. Place a plastic bag a quarter-filled with brine inside the jar, overtop the vegetables to keep them compressed. Occasionally press down on the vegetables as the kimchi expands.

Place the lid on the jar and let sit for a week, depending on how fermented you like your kimchi. The process will take longer in the winter, up to two weeks.

Consider this a foot in the door to canning, if you've never done it before, or just a great way to preserve and enjoy your winter produce.

Roasted Maple Sweet Potatoes

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (about 8 cups)
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

• PREPARATION

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Arrange sweet potatoes in an even layer in a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Combine maple syrup, butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper in small bowl. Pour the mixture over the sweet potatoes; toss to coat.
  3. Cover and bake the sweet potatoes for 15 minutes. Uncover, stir and cook, stirring every 15 minutes, until tender and starting to brown, 45 to 50 minutes more.

Bardstown Rd. Farmers Market

2010 Schedule :

Every Saturday from April 3rd to December 18th

Saturday: 8AM – 12PM

Winter Market - 10am -12pm January 2nd through March 27th

Michael Pollen in town October 7th

For the past twenty-five years, Michael Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where nature and culture intersect: on our plates, in our farms and gardens, and in the built environment. He is the author of four New York Times bestsellers:Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (2010); In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (2008); The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006) and The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World (2001). The Omnivore’s Dilemma was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by both the New York Times and the Washington Post. It also won the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, the James Beard Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A young readers edition called The Omnivore’s Dilemma: the Secrets Behind What You Eat was published in 2009.

In 2003, Pollan was appointed the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, and the director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism. In addition to teaching, he lectures widely on food, agriculture, health and the environment.

Michael Pollan, who was born in 1955, grew up on Long Island, and was educated at Bennington College, Oxford University, and Columbia University, from which he received a Master’s in English. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife, the painter Judith Belzer, and their son, Isaac.

Mr. Pollan will be speaking in Louisville, KY on October 7th on the campus of Bellarmine University.

Local Farmer To Open Harvest Restaurant on East Market

Please follow this link to the Courier Journal to read today's article about one of our owners, Ivor Chodkowski's new restaurant venture!

Wednesday September 8th

Produce for Two! / Staples share:

• Potatoes from Field Day Family Farm, Jefferson Co.
• Pears from Hillview Orchard, Shelby Co.
• Winter Squash from ECO-Gardens, Allen Co.
• Arkansas Black Apples from Happy Apple Farm, Casey Co.

Full Produce share:

• all of the above produce
• Sweet Peppers from Finger Pickin' Farms, Palmyra IN
• Tomatoes from Ragan Greenhouse, Spencer Co.

Staples share:

• all of the Staples share produce
• 1/2 Gallon milk from JD Country Milk, Logan Co.
• 1 dozen pastured eggs from Remington Ingram, Washington Co.
• Yogurt from JD Country Milk OR Honey OR Mushrooms from Sheltowee Farms, Bath Co.

Friday September 3rd

Produce for Two! / Staples share:

• Arkansas Black Apples from Happy Apple Orchard, Casey Co.
• 1 pound Patty Pan Squash from ECO-Gardens, Allen Co.
• 1 Acorn Squash from Finger Pickin’ Farms, Palmyra IN
• Spaghetti Squash from ECO-Gardens, Allen Co. [FOR Mama's Hip: additional Acorn Squash from ECO-Gardens, Allen Co.]
• 2 pounds of Potatoes from Benny Mast, Allen Co.
• Pears from Setsuko Kline, Borden Indiana
• (9 pounds of food!!)

Full share:

• all of the above produce
• 1 pounds Patty Pan Squash from ECO-Gardens, Allen Co.
• 1 Acorn Squash from Finger Pickin’ Farms, Palmyra IN
• 1 pounds of Potatoes from Benny Mast, Allen Co.
• Bell Peppers from Finger Pickin’ Farms, Palmyra IN
• (12.5 pounds of food)

Staples share:

• all of the Staples produce
• 1/2 gallon milk from JD Country Milk, Logan Co.
• 1 dozen pastured eggs from Remington Ingram, Washington Co.
• 1 maple syrup

Beef share: Roast from Ashbourne Farms, Oldham, Co.

Chicken share: Chicken from Healthy Living Acres,

Mixed Meat share: Chicken from Barr Farms, Breckenridge Co.

Lamb share: Shoulder roast from Garden of Eden, Mount Sterling KY

Breakfast share: Fabulous Fatty Bacon & Mild Sage Sausage from Fiedler Family Farm & Rome IN

Cow Cheese: Smoked Gouda & Colby from Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese, Barren Co.

Goat Cheese: Saporra Di Italia, Fischerville KY

Blue Dog Rotating Loaf: Seeded Baguette