Summer Week 4
By : Sara Kaplan
Posted June 25, 2010 15:00 to The Garden Club Blog
Summer Garden Club: Week 4
Contents:
Leeks (High Tides & Green Fields)
Onions (High Tides & Green Fields)
Green Tomatoes (Smith Farm, Dibble)
Red and Purple Potatoes (Vegetable Sheid, Blanchard)
Green Beans (Barley's Garden Patch)
Basil (Barley's Garden Patch)
Plumcots (cross between plum and apricot, Freedom Farms, Blanchard)
Golden Plums (tiny ones, Freedom Farms, Blanchard)
Strawberry Jam (Earth Elements)
Greetings Garden Clubbers!
At the last minute, the contents of this basket changed dramatically--this happens a lot in the local produce world. Fresh corn was supposed to be the feature this week, when Dev checked it this morning, it was full of bugs. Alas, never fear. We called Liz at Barley's Garden Patch to save the day with some green beans and fresh basil. Liz grows awesome chemical free stuff right here in Norman. We also have a unique treat this week in the plumcots and tiny golden plums, grown in Blanchard by Ruth of Freedom Farms. Plumcots are a natural complex hybrid between plums and apricots exhibiting more plum-like traits. Other similar crosses between plums and apricots are marketed as pluots and apriums, which are more apricot-like. The plumcots have a deep red flesh, if yours are a bit firm, let them ripen for a few days for maximum sweetness. YUM!
Also, in this week's bag you'll find some delicious strawberry jam for Earth Elements Market & Bakery in Lexington. If you haven't heard about April Harrington and her crew at Earth Elements, you're missing out. At her commercial kitchen, they take extra produce from local farmers and process it into jams, relishes, soups, pickles, baked goods and more. Earth Elements is an essential part of our local food system because they extend the harvest. Additionally, this is a great benefit for the local farmers because their extra produce becomes a value-added product. When farmers have a surplus that they can't sell or what they call "seconds" (produce that may have a bump, bruise, or nick and is just as tasty, just not as pretty), they often have to just compost these crops. April helps turn "waste" into profit for local farmers while providing delicious products for us!
Fried Green Tomatoes!!
- 4 large green tomatoes
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
Directions
- Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard the ends.
- Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
- In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels.
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Nico Scheidemantel
June 27, 2010 23:50
Hooray for fried green tomatoes! I love to serve these with a creamy dill dressing and a green salad with shaved carrots and quick pickled green beans. Just clean off and trim your green beans then bring equal parts water and vinegar with a tablespoon or so of kosher salt to a boil. Drop in the green beans and boil for three minutes or so, just until they turn bright green and tender up a bit. The dressing can be as simple as Greek yogurt with fresh dill, cracked pepper, and lemon juice mixed in to thin it out. My vegetarian sweetie loves these kinds of salads for dinner because of all the different textures—it’s very satisfying!