Harvest and Frisee Salad

Howdy Ag-Supporting Community members,

CSA share pickup is tomorrow as always, from 3:30-6:30 at the market in Southern Village. Hope you had a good week! It was a long week for me, with many preparations for and finally the execution of the Farm-to-Fork Picnic at the Breeze Farm on Sunday. Together with Neal's Deli and BoxCarr Farms I prepared a homemade Italian Sausage sub with wilted rapini and my pickled fennel, a beet salad, grilled turnips and carrots (BoxCarr's carrots--ours aren't that far along yet), and salt roasted new potatoes (you're getting some this week!). There were some great chefs, farmers, and artisans in attendance, as well as some 600 really supportive community members. Lots of fun, and a real privilege for a first-year farmer.

Growing for yall is a privilege, too, and with further delay let me announce the harvest this week:

1 bunch of cilantro
1 lb new red potatoes
1-2 Daikons
1/2 of a large head of chinese cabbage
1 bunch of tatsoi
1 head endive (featured this week in the recipe)
1 small head of lettuce (it's getting late in the year, and too hot, to grow much more lettuce!)
and 1 bunch of rainbow swiss chard

Now for the recipe (from nytimes.com): Frisee Salad with Poached Egg (uses Endive)

A note on how to use the head of endive included in this week's share. First of all, it looks a head of romaine lettuce, but tastes pretty bitter on the outside. What you want to do is peel off the outer few leaves until you reach the inner leaves which have been blanched light green almost white. Chop these into bite-size pieces and use in this recipe for "frisee." Frisee refers to the curly endive, not the broad-leafed endive that I grew (also called escarole), but it'll be good in this salad, trust me.

For the salad:

1 head frisée, tender light green leaves only, washed and dried (about 3 cups).

1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, tarragon or chives

1 sweet red pepper, very thinly sliced

4 thin slices baguette or whole grain bread, toasted, rubbed with a cut clove of garlic and cut into squares

4 large or extra-large eggs

1 tablespoon vinegar (any kind)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, champagne vinegar or red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 small garlic clove, minced or pureed

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons walnut oil

1. Combine the lettuce, herbs, red pepper and croutons in a large bowl.

2. Poach the eggs. Fill a lidded frying pan with water, and bring to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to the water. One at a time, break the eggs into a teacup, then tip from the teacup into the pan (do this in batches if necessary). Immediately turn off the heat under the pan and cover tightly. Leave for four minutes. Lay a clean dish towel next to the pan, and using a slotted spoon or spatula, carefully remove the poached eggs from the water. Set on the towel to drain.

3. Whisk together the vinegars, salt, mustard and garlic. Whisk in the oil. Toss with the salad until thoroughly coated, and distribute among 4 salad plates. Top each serving with a poached egg. Season the egg with salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle with some thyme leaves and serve.

Yield: Serves 4.

Advance preparation: You can poach the eggs up to a day ahead. Keep in a bowl of water in the refrigerator. Drain on a kitchen towel before assembling the salad. The lettuces can be washed and dried, and held in plastic bags in the refrigerator overnight.

SEE YA TOMORROW!

Ben