The “Tell” – Springdell Winter CSA Pickup #3

 in Springdell Show and Tell  tagged Tell by (updated 2154 days ago)

Hi everyone, Jess here to recap the third CSA pickup of the winter season! Hope everyone has been enjoying their end-of-the-year activities! I feel like this CSA box was perfectly timed with those gatherings with friends and family, there was a lovely bounty to be shared.

  • Goat Cheese Trifecta (from Westfield Farm– I got Blue Cheese, Fiery Fig and Chocolate)
    • Chocolate Goat Cheese Served with red wine and roasted beet cubes
    • Fiery Fig Served with Mini-Toasts
    • I accidentally brought home a blueberry lemon instead of the blue cheese, and I haven’t used it yet. It will likely end up on bagels. If you have any other yummy ideas to share, let me know!
  • Milk Choice (I chose cream and low-fat)
  • Meat (I received a package of bacon and pork chops)
    • Breakfast! Bacon with Pancakes and Eggs (Bacon roasted at 400 degrees on a parchment lined cookie sheet)
    • Bacon fat was saved and used in multiple dishes throughout the week (see below)
    • Pan Seared Pork Chops with a Creamy Pan Gravy (Recipe in the works!)
  • New Potatoes 
    • Roasted
  • Eggs
  • Onions
  • Shallots
    • Pan-Seared Jordan Brother’s Scallops with a Cider Shallot Reduction (recipe in the works!)
  • Parsnips
    • Roasted with the beets, and later enjoyed by moi while standing at the kitchen counter procrastinating on wrapping things late at night
  • Rainbow Carrots
    • Shredded into the holiday salad
    • Into a colorful slaw with the purple cabbage
    • A couple put out for Santa’s reindeer
  • Baby Spinach
    • Salad for a holiday dinner at the cousin’s house
  • Purple Cabbage
    • Colorful Slaw
  • Apple Cider
    • Pan-Seared Jordan Brother’s Scallops with a Cider Shallot Reduction
  • Radishes
    • Sliced into Salad
    • Shredded and served with goat cheese
  • Beets
    • Roasted and cubed, served with chocolate goat cheese, thinly sliced radish and red wine

I hope you enjoyed this share box as much as we did! It was wonderfully timed with the vacation and dinners with friends and family.

The first meal of the week included a few pieces of baked Jordan Brother’s cod
Sunday Breakfast included home made pancakes using CSA eggs, milk, butter and flour.
Here’s some of the no-fuss bacon in progress. Lining the cookie sheet with parchment paper before placing your bacon into the oven allows for easy cleanup (and easy collection of that rendered bacon fat for future recipes!)
This one was one of my favorites- Pan-seared Jordan Brother’s sea scallops with a cider-shallot reduction on a bed of colorful slaw. The scallops were seared in that wonderful bacon fat.
I loved the color contrasts of the purple cabbage and the orange carrots. The cabbage got even brighter (and tastier) after a massage with a sprinkle of salt.
And here you can see the bacon fat waiting to receive some scallops. Bacon fat is wonderful for pan searing as it has a high smoke point, and it adds a lovely flavor.
One of our meat stand-in’s is seitan, a gluten-based “wheat meat”. I barbecued some with simple roasted potatoes.
Here’s a quick mid-meal shot of one of the kid’s plates, complete with a “Beyond Burger” (veggie burger) sweet potato fries and shredded carrots. Had my beets not already been consumed, I would have opted for this homemade veggie burger from The Kitchn, shared by fellow Springdellian Susan M. It’s pretty darn amazing.
This was another yummy meal this week, Pan seared pork chops with a creamy pan gravy, roasted fingerlings and sautéed cabbage. Winter CSA butter, milk, cream, pork chops, cabbage, apples, shallots and potatoes made an appearance in this one. The remaining bacon fat was used in searing the pork chops, sautéing the cabbage, and roasting the potatoes.
The Winter Holiday Brunch is my favorite autopilot meal of the season. Blueberry French Toast Casserole, Sweet Potato Hash and Sausage Casserole are hearty and serve a family of 12 (or less with leftovers). Simple prep the night before makes for an easy Christmas morning where I can be with my family without toiling in the kitchen.
The fiery fig goat cheese is my new favorite! Simply invert the bowl of goat cheese and you have an awesome appetizer. The fig is a bit fiery, but the goat cheese allows you to control the heat.

I had big plans for my chocolate goat cheese. I was going to slice the cheese into rounds, cook up little graham cracker crusts and make mini cheesecake tarts with a sweet cream topping. Instead, I got together with my dear friend Kerri and we enjoyed it as-is with a bottle of red wine. I love to sip the wine against the rich flavors of this cheese. Sweet cubes of roasted beet and spicy radish were also out for sampling. I took no picture, because, well, there was wine involved and I honestly forgot. Also not pictured were my midnight snack of parsnips standing at my kitchen counter during a gift wrapping session. You know how it goes during the holidays…

A reminder that if you have a Christmas Tree that needs recycling, you can bring it to the farm until January 9th! The critters at the farm consider the pine needles to be a tasty treat. Please be sure to remove all decorations and tinsel as I’m sure that’s not good for their bellies. The stumps are then burned and used in next season’s compost!

I look forward to checking in with you soon for the 4th CSA pickup of the season. A little birdie told me that coffee will be a featured item!

About Jess

Jess Anderson is the creator of CSA|365 and is passionate about the local food movement. A long time member of Springdell and a busy mother of two, Jess loves keeping her family fed by honest local food.

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