To view Farmer John’s latest update, click here.

This week’s share will include: 

• Veggies: swiss chard, beans, carrots, shallots, red fingerling potatoes, butternut squash, shishito peppers, radishes, Napa cabbage and choice of an herb.
• Add-on shares:
  • Fruit: hardy kiwi berries and gala apples
  • Flowers: sunflowers
  • Mushrooms: expected every week unless we hear otherwise
  • Eggs: expected every week unless we hear otherwise
• For those with half shares, this is “B” week.

Serving Suggestions:

• This week, John ended his update declaring “it is feeling like soup weather.” As I write this, watching Monday Night Football with the windows wide open, I couldn’t agree more! Yesterday I made a big batch of potato soup with the CSA potatoes I had collected the last few weeks. You could easily adapt to add or subtract whatever you have on hand. Here’s my basic “recipe” I follow each time I make potato soup…
  • Crisp some pancetta or bacon in a big, heavy pot. Use a slotted spoon to remove it so you leave behind the fat.
  • Sweat some chopped onions (and/or scallions whites, leeks, shallots) in the fat, adding olive oil if needed. Add some seasonings — I keep it simple with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.
  • Sprinkle in some flower to make a roux with the fat, let it cook two minutes until the bottom of the pot dries.
  • Deglaze with a cup of water/broth, stirring and scraping vigorously. You will literally see the starches gelatinize. Don’t use too much liquid or you won’t be able to stir aggressively and you won’t get the right effect. It’ll look separated for awhile, keep stirring until it comes together.
  • Add 2/3 of your chunked potatoes before adding the rest of your liquid, that way you’ll limit splashing. (I don’t bother peeling them but definitely rinse them, CSA potatoes have a lot of dirt!)
  • Add the rest of your liquid, 4-6 more cups worth depending on how many servings you are aiming for.
  • Cook until your potatoes are soft and mushy. Use an immersion blender to buzz the soup until smooth. Add your reserved potatoes and cook in the pureed soup until soft, about 20min. This would be a good time to add anything else you want to stay bite-able in the final soup, like carrot chunks. If you want to add something quick-cooking like corn, wait until the final few minutes.
  • Serve topped with the reserved crispy pancetta/bacon, sliced scallion greens, sour cream, shredded cheese, or whatever else you like to pair with a baked potato.