Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  The box this week has salad mix, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, onions, garlic, carrots, and cabbage

Field Notes.  Ken continues planting for the salad mixes, and has been making pottery.  Soon he will start full season crops like onions and celery and parsley.  Then it will be one planting after the next.  Soon after that Ken will be seeding and transplanting in green houses.  This time of year is a real transition as the days lengthen and the sun’s strength increases.  For us it is like the sleeping earth is staring to stir.

From the Kitchen. I have been making squash kinpira with the buttercup squash.  Kinpiria is a Japanese cooking style I have recounted many times.  Here is a copy from a spring batch using burdock and carrots.  For squash I cut the buttercup in thin crescent slices.

Kinpira

 WWhat is kinpira? Kinpira is a Japanese cooking technique. In spring one uses carrots and gobo – burdock root – cut into matchsticks. In summer chefs combine thumb sized pieces of Asian eggplant and green pepper. And in fall squash like our buttercup cut into thin crescent shapes is common.

Start with a cast iron or heavy skillet. Toast some sesame seeds and set aside. Use a cooking fat or oil that can take heat, and add some dried hot red pepper flakes if desired. Add the vegetable that takes the longer cooking time (gobo in spring and green peppers in summer). Cook over high heat, and keep stirring. Add the second vegetable. Cook to al dente. Add a teaspoon to tablespoon of sugar, Stir to caramelize, but don’t burn. Add a splash at a time of a sweet cooking wine like Japanese mirin or sherry. I use homemade parsnip wine. Finally add some good quality tamari or soy sauce. Top with the toasted sesame seeds and serve.

The sequence is important as the sugar and sweet wine seal in the flavors. Experiment as everyone seems to like a different ratio – some like it hotter, others like it sweeter or saltier. The end result is a toasted sweet, salty glazed vegetable with a bit of crunch. Delicious!

‘Til February 8th, Judith and the Gang