Grilled Melon Salsa

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 3 thick slices ripe cantaloupe (half-moon shaped, seeds and rind removed)*

• 3 thick slices ripe honeydew (half-moon shaped, seeds and rind removed)*

• 3 thick slices ripe canary melon or other yellow-fleshed melon (half-moon shaped, seeds and rind removed)*

• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus a drizzle

• 1 cup diced ripe red tomato

• 1 jalapeño, finely chopped

• 1 shallot, finely chopped

• 2 limes

• Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

• Small handful basil leaves, coarsely chopped

* Save the rest of the melons for another use, or double the recipe!

PREPARATION

1. Heat a grill to medium-high. Toss the melon slices gently in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil. Using tongs, place the melon slices across grill grates. Don’t disturb them once you’ve laid them down. Let them cook for 3 to 4 minutes to brown—you’ll see the edges start to caramelize. Flip them and brown the other side. Remove from the grill and set aside to cool.

2. Dice the grilled melon into pieces that are about the same size or slightly larger than the tomato. Toss into a bowl with the tomato, jalapeño, and shallot.

3. Add some of the lime juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Stir in the cilantro and basil. Taste and add salt, pepper, and lime juice as needed.

This recipe was demonstrated for CUESA’s Market to Table program on August 18, 2012.

Source: Alison Mountford, Square Meals

How To: Preserving Herbs

If your garden is bursting with fresh herbs now, preserve some for a time when things are not so green. By the first sign of frost this winter, it'll be time to harvest the rest of those herbs in your garden and bring them inside to dry or freeze for later use. Annual herbs can be cut off at ground level but perennial herbs should not be cut down completely, harvest only the tips of branches and tender leaves.

Before preserving, wash the herbs gently in cold water, drain thoroughly and air dry on a towel.

Air drying herbs double as decor!

AIR DRYING

Gather herbs in small bunches, tying the ends with twist ties or rubber bands. Hang the herbs in bunches, upside down, in a dim, airy place away from any source of heat or moisture. You could use a beamed ceiling or a drying rack, anywhere that allows circulation between the bunches of herbs. It may take 4 – 14 days to dry completely, depending on the type of herb and the warmth and humidity of your drying area.

Herbs can also be stripped from the stems and leaves dried in a single layer on mesh rack (window screen works well). Leaves are dry when they are crisp and brittle.

OVEN DRYING

The quickest way to dry herbs is in the oven. Set in single layer on mesh rack or foil lined baking sheet. Heat oven to its lowest setting. Place the herbs in the oven and leave until completely dry, which should take two to four hours depending on the herb. Cool before storing. Herbs are dry when the leaves crumble off the stem. Be care to not crush leaves until using them.

Once the herbs are dry they should be stored in airtight jars away from heat and moisture. For best flavor, use within 6 months to a year. When using dried herbs, crush between your fingers to release their flavor.

Remember that dried herbs are stronger in flavor than fresh, so when measuring in recipes use 1 part dried to 3 parts fresh.

FREEZING

Strip the herb leaves from the stems and lay on baking sheets. Freeze until firm and then pack into freezer bags. You can also chop the herbs in a food processor with a little water and freeze in ice cube trays. Once frozen solid, unfold and pack in freezer bags for easy use all year long! 

When cooking, use the herbs straight from the freezer as you would fresh herbs.

Dried oregano ready for your culinary delights!

DEHYDRATING

This can be the easiest way to dry your herbs. There are many different types of dehydrators in the market and you don’t have to spend too much. Once dried they are ready to be stored in airtight jars.

Our favorite part about dehydrating? So easy to make different herbal blends! It's recommended that you don’t fully crush the herbs up until day of use. 

Summer Harvest: Cucumbers

Check your cucumbers daily and harvest early. And if you're harvesting for pickling, make that even earlier! Remember that timing and length will vary with variety but overall, cucumbers are fast growers. 

The fruit should be firm and smooth. Over-ripe cucumbers can be very bitter or pithy, even before they start to turn yellow. If you're noticing a yellowed bottom on your cucumber, it's a sign that it's over-ripe so remove immediately. When cutting off the vine, use a knife or clippers and cut above the stem. Pulling may damage the vine. 

Harvested cucumbers keep for up to 10 days in the refrigerator but use them ASAP for best flavor. (Keep reading for the perfect 2-step recipe to incorporate your harvest in!) The more you harvest off the vine, the more fruit you'll get. So get harvesting! 

BASIL AND GARLIC CUCUMBER SALAD

Source:  Evan Bloom and Leo Beckerman, Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen. This recipe was demonstrated for CUESA’s Market to Table program on July 19, 2014.

Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS

6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 lemon cucumbers, quartered and sliced
1 serpent cucumber, sliced
3 tablespoons chopped basil leaves
1/8teaspoon salt
1/8teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION

1. In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice, olive oil, and yogurt with the
smashed garlic.
2. Add the cucumbers, basil, salt and pepper. Toss and serve. 

Summer Harvest: Corn

Normally sweet corn is ready for harvest about 17 –24 days after the first silk strands appear. This can occur more quickly in hot weather and more slowly in cool weather.

Harvest corn when the husks are still green, silks are dry brown, and kernels are full sized and yellow or white in color to the very tip of the ear. Experienced gardeners can feel the outside of the husk and tell when the cob has filled out. Harvest corn at the “milk stage”, use your thumbnail to puncture a kernel. If the liquid is clear, the corn is immature, if it’s milky, it’s ready, and if there is no sap, you too late.

And here's the best tip in the game: Cover unharvested ears checked by this method with a paper bag to prevent insect or bird damage! 

Picturesque corn stalks - save them for fall decorating! 

For corn that you'll be storing for a day or two, pick in the cool temperatures of early morning to prevent the ears from building up an excess of field heat, which causes a more rapid conversion of sugars to starch.  

The best time to pick is just before eating the corn; country cooks say to have the pot of water coming to a boil as you are picking the corn, husking it on the way from the garden to the house! This is an exaggeration, but with standard varieties, sugar conversion to starch is rather rapid.  

For any corn picked in the midday sun - plunge the ears in cold water or put them on ice for a short time to guard against the effects of field heat. Then, just store it in the refrigerator until you're ready to eat! 

Extra-sweet varieties will also benefit from this treatment, but they are not as finicky because they have a higher sugar content and they hold their sweetness longer.  The conversion of sugars to starch is also not as rapid in the newer super sweet types.

Now that you know how to harvest your garden-fresh corn, let's get cooking...

Fresh Corn Soup with Poblano Chile

INGREDIENTS

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion minced
1 medium carrot, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
4 cups corn kernels, about 6 ears
4 cups low sodium vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 poblano chiles, roasted, skinned, and chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
I left out the 1 ounce of queso fresco or feta cheese whisked with 1-2 tablespoons of milk.

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in a large pot.  Sweat the onions covered for about 5 minutes.  Add carrots, cover, and cook another five minutes.  Add garlic, dried herbs, cayenne, and cook covered another couple minutes.  Add corn, season with salt, cover then cook another five minutes.  Add vegetable stock, bring to a boil, cover and remove from the heat.  Puree in a blender then strain through a fine mesh sieve.  (Be sure to have a pot under the strainer to catch the soup ---- I have made this mistake before and don't want you to).  Return soup to the big pot and season to taste.

I roasted the poblanos directly over the flame of the gas stove until they were blackened, put them in a ziploc bag to steam for awhile, then could easily remove the skins.

Ladle the soup into bowls.  Stir in the poblanos and cilantro and serve. 

This recipe is from the website of Kaiser Permanente, Food for Health, Recipes for Life.

From The Orchard: Stone Fruit

We're getting close to that time...the annual harvest! Read on for tips on timing and best practices when harvesting peaches, pluots, plums and nectarines! And hey, this might even help when picking out fresh stone fruit from the grocery!

PEACHES AND NECTARINES

Peaches and nectarines are best when tree ripened, meaning when they're at that perfect point to pluck them off the tree and take that first juicy bite. 

Peaches ripen from the bottom up toward the stem and from the smooth side toward the split side, so giving them a feel on the upper "shoulder" closets to the split will tell you if a peach is ripe. If it gives a little, it's ready. If it's feeling a little firm - give it a day or two. There should be no green on the fruit and it should come off the branch with a slight twist.

Aim for harvesting while still a little firm because as we all know, soft peaches don't store well! But an overload of fresh fruit is always a great excuse to get cooking! Check out this recipe for Roasted Stone Fruit with Shortcake.  

PLUMS AND PLUOTS

Plums usually ripen between July and October. Alike peaches and nectarines, they ripen best on the tree. Ripe plums should come off the tree easily with a lift and slight twist. If you are planning to dry the plums, you can let them fall from the tree naturally, but check often as ripe fruits attract pests. Here are some delicious recipes to enjoy your harvest.

Overwhelmed with your harvest? We have the perfect solution...

STONE FRUIT SIMPLE SYRUP

Perfect for your sangria, sweet tea and other summer drinks - cheers! 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups water
8 pieces assorted stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums)

PREPARATION

Simple syrup is a sugar syrup made with a ratio of 1 to 1, sugar to water.  In this version, you use 1 cup of sugar and 1 ½ cups water and submerge 8 pieces of stone fruit, sliced to impart more flavor.  
Bring the sugar, water and fruit up to a simmer, and simmer until the liquid has reduced to the 1 to 1 ratio, and the fruit has given the syrup its flavor, aroma and color, roughly 1-2 hours on simmer. Strain out the fruit and store the stone fruit simple syrup in the fridge for up to 6 months.
The syrup can be used in tea, sangria, cocktails, over ice cream, to moisten layer cakes, or made into sauces.

Recipe and image via PCFMA.

Edible Marigolds

Native to North America, marigolds are grown all over the world. They've been used in religious ceremonies by the Aztecs, spread by Spanish and Portuguese explorers, made into dyes, garlands and garnishes in India and Pakistan and nicknamed "Mary's gold" in Europe in reference of the Virgin Mary. 

Easy to grow, it's no wonder why and how they spread around the world. Once established, marigolds will bloom summer through fall. Plant now and enjoy rich color, plus the flowers and buds are edible! 

Incorporating marigolds into your feasts can lend a range of flavors from spicy to bitter, tangy to peppery. Our selection from Sebastopol-based Sweetwater Nursery come organically grown in a range of colors and sizes.

Read on to learn what varieties you'll find in the nursery. And hurry in, they're going fast! 

'Lemon Gem' Marigold

Widely considered as one of the best tasting marigold varieties. 'Lemon Gem' is an old-fashioned Signet type. It's finely cut foliage forms 8-10" mounds covered with single yellow blooms all season. Does best in the sunshine.

'Little Hero Flame' 

A lovely compact French marigold with a dwarf growth habit. Plant in sun and enjoy fragrant flowers and scented foliage. Heat and frost tolerant - what more could you want?!

'Little Hero Mix'

A French marigold mix of fire yellow and orange. Enjoy bold colored flowers that are great for cutting with dark green fragrant leaves. Easy to grow, plant in sun to part sun.

'Chica Gold' 

Boasts early blooming large, fully double crested flowers with superior uniformity. This dwarf variety does great in containers in sun. 

'Bonanaza Bee'

Here's a mouthful - Compact, bushy, upright, dwarf crested French marigold! This beauty grows 10-12" tall with large 2-3" blooms. Space each plant 6-10" apart in full sun. Don't worry - they can take the heat! 

Stay tuned - we will have more edible flowers on their way! 

Strawberry Harvest + A Recipe Too!

The strawberry is truly a special treat of the summer season. At harvest, most of the fruit should be heart shaped, but can vary in size. Color should be vivid red to dark crimson skin, speckled with those dry, diminutive seeds. The berry should have a flowery fragrance, be juicy and have a sweet taste.

Wild strawberries, also known as Fraise Des Bois, will be about the size of a large raspberry and heart shaped. Red or white, the fruits are extremely fragrant, tartness is overshadowed by sweetness. And the taste is incredible, very power packed.

We love to our sun warmed strawberries right off the plant but once we get a good harvest, there's nothing better than incorporating them into a home-cooked meal! And who doesn't love the sound of...

STRAWBERRY FRENCH TOAST KEBOBS

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 thick slices of French or Italian bread, preferably slightly stale. Dry bread will soak up the egg mixture better than fresh bread!
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• 1 pint strawberries, halved

 Directions

Slice the bread into cubes. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, cream, vanilla extract. Dip the cubed bread into the egg mixture, then place on a greased baking sheet. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle onto the cubes.

Broil for 2 minutes, flip, then broil another 2 minutes. Keep an eye on the bread during the last minute so it doesn’t burn. Remove the French toast from the oven and layer them on the skewers with the strawberries. Serve with maple syrup or strawberry jam as a dipping sauce.

This recipe is from the website Fruit & Veggies More Matters.