Culinarium CSA Week 9

LARGE:
2 bunch beets milo fisher
1 pc. Asst. squash zehr/stoll -looks like little delicatas
1 qt. Russet potato stephen stoll – blue potatoes
3 pc. Sweet onion paul stoll
Apple Cider Culinarium
1 pc. Small green cabbage Paul stoll
1 bunch carrot milo fisher
3-5 pc. Turnip melvin yoder

So they’ve added more information, as to the source of the various veggies.  That’s a great idea.  I tried to reorder some other items, but I realized I didn’t know which farmer they had come from.  We’re nearing the end of the season, and there were emails flying about that next week’s share was to be the last.  The snow came fast and hard up north, and the season was too wet for proper food storage.  That could explain some of the QA problems in the shares.  But I can accept that, salvaging what I can from what the farmers could harvest.  In moving forward, perhaps timing adjustments would be required for future programs, as the growing season was significantly different, than those of the friends further south near the Niagara region.  Anyway, they’re planning on next year’s CSA so keep an eye open at the KEG site, or email them to be put on an update list.

Culinarium CSA Week 8

Large:

2 bunch carrot
1 med/lrg pc. Butternut squash- got 2 acorn squash instead
1 qt. Potato, red fingerling
1 lb. shallots
1 bag of rye flour
1 x 1 lb.. Bunch kale
Garlic – one large head/2-3 sml

This share was pretty straight forward.  I’m looking forward to my next break to mess around with the rye flour.  It’s been a while since I slammed down some dough.  M borrowed a bread making machine once and we’ve been trying that out.  But perhaps the technology is old, which it is, or I’m super picky, which I could be, but the bread didn’t last more than a day, and didn’t have the crumb and texutre that I’m come to expect from my bread.  It’s not my fault, I’ll just blame M, since she’s the one who brought me to France and introduced french baguettes, boulangeries, and especially the pattiseries.  So now every time I hear of a new pattisserie opening up in Toronto, we’ve got to go check it out.  Unfortuantely, they’re never quite up to par.  We recently dropped by Bayview Village, for a new pattisserie opening, but it turned out to be more like a cafeteria with Rahier supplying the treats.  I did get the chance to check out Panera Breads for lunch, in both their Mississauga and Richmond Hill locations.  The breads were good, and the sweet treats were satisfying.  At the Mississauga location, they also offered up an apple as a side, which I thought was a good idea.  They have wireless, so I could work while I ate.  I’ll throw in a review for Panera’s the next time I visit.

Culinarium CSA Week 7

LARGE:
sunchokes, 1 qt- firm and crunchy
1 pc. Pie pumpkin
potato, red/white mix
2 pc. delicata sq.- one round piece came in, so I split it in half with A.  We both love it’s texture and taste.
1 x 250 ml. Maple syrup- deep flavour and rather smokey.
1 bunch green onion- no show
beans, dry, 1 qt- dried in the pods so I shucked them out to about 1 cups worth.
2 pc. Tomato, hot house

I went into the store on thursday to pick up the groceries as I was out of town Friday.  In any case, they had moved the CSA pickup into the store, as test trials for a more optimal share distribution method.  Culinarium is looking to improve this CSA process, so suggestions are welcomed.  Kelly brought over the individual trays to avoid any share transfer errors, in response to problems encountered with mixed up shares.  They had a movable counter top that was used as the transfer point.  Alas only time and observation will determine whether or not this system works, or another is needed.  However, a willingness to try new methods and respond to customers is a good sign.  It’ll be interesting to see what kind of changes are made for the coming new year.

Update Nov 23-  The pie pumpkin was rotted through and the spherical delicata was more acorn squash in both taste and texture than sweet potato.  The sunchokes were excellent, crunchy to the last bite, superior to the first delivery of sunchokes.  If not handled quickly it did turn grey in colour, so a dash of lemon juice was used to prevent discolouring.

Culinarium CSA Week 6

LARGE:
2 bunch carrot
1 lrg pc. Acorn squash (approx. 3 lb.)
1 qt. Fingerling potato, white
1 pc. Red cabbage
1 x 500 ml. Jar of Wildflower honey, unpasteurized- yeah!  just when I ran out.
2 pc. Red onion – 1 piece received
6 oz. Bag pea tendrils- got bag of lettuce instead.  too bad, I was looking forward to munching on some.

Again, I had to pick up the shipment on friday afternoon, as I ran out of time thursday.  It looked like Culinarium was ramping up for the Christmas retail season as new personnel were being trained.  So I ended using the squash, potatoes, onion, and carrots in another slow cooker curry.  I had to do a recipe split, trying to make a meal for both vegetarian and omnivore diners.  Once the veggie portion was complete, I took out several portions into a casserole dish.  Then I browned up the chicken and onions and mixed it into the remaining curry sauce.  Thus I was able to create the same dish and customize it for two different consumers.  I’ll have to consider this method for future meals.  Interestingly I had added in some yukon potatoes from Loblaws, which was also Ontario sourced, but they completely disintegrated at the end.  The fingerling potatoes were still in excellent shape and the carrots were still firm.  I think one of the interesting aspects of cooking with share food is that they do cook out significantly different from grocery store offerings.  Perhaps it is the difference in varietal.

Culinarium CSA Week 5

LARGE:
2 pc. Tomato
1 x 10oz bunch asian greens- no show
1 qt. Yukon gold potatoes
1 head cabbage
1 lrg bunch of leeks- is going into the leek potato soup.
1 x 8 oz. Bag shallots-
2 pc. Yellow pepper- no show as well, and got a bunch of beets instead.
1 pc. Kobucha squash (kuri)- deep orange skin, but looks like a pumpkin (like a mandarin vs an orange)
1 bunch baby carrot- crisp and crunchy
1 bunch kale

Picked up this shipment on friday.  Nothing, most of the items look good.  An email from the farmer tells of frost bitten crosts, and deer grazing activities.  It’s gotten cold in Toronto the last couple of days, as fall seems to be skipped in this wacky weather changing world of ours.  The question of whether this change is a natural cycle for earth or environment destruction from human activity won’t likely be answered in this generation.  Recently on a BBC report, China admits to putting out as much pollution as the US, but proceeds to say that no changes are imminent.  Not surprising, since the US is not exactly leading by example.  However, the best we can ask is that everyone take some time to figure out how best to reduce their own carbon footprint and leave as small of a pollution legacy as possible.  I recently read Hope for Harvest by Jane Goodall, and it was enlightening at moments.  I think of it as a the beginner’s info guide to the whole topic of sustainable food supply chains.  One big topic of course was livestock agriculture.  In Europe, they are on track to banning battery cages used for poultry production in Europe, but the controversy is that it doesn’t apply to importers of egg derivative products.  There’s lots of info on the web, some flaky, some good, so keep an open mind, and a bit of salt on hand.

Update Nov 23-  the kuri squash was still excellent, with a sweet potato bite and texture