Farm News
The cool winds are blowing today reminding us Fall is really here. I closed up the roll up sides on both hoophouses last night to retain overnight heat – that will help keep those Sungold cherry tomatoes and red slicers ripening as long as possible. We’re to the point in the season where our warm days are numbered and we’re not looking forward to those hand numbing days!
The cool winds are blowing today reminding us Fall is really here. I closed up the roll up sides on both hoophouses last night to retain overnight heat – that will help keep those Sungold cherry tomatoes and red slicers ripening as long as possible. We’re to the point in the season where our warm days are numbered and we’re not looking forward to those hand numbing days!
It’s been a busy week with the CSA deliveries and the Field Day this past Sunday. About the middle of last week we decided we had to move our Field Day lunch inside – but where? Incredibly, our machine shed which was full of equipment, piles of compost, and garden supplies was transformed with tables, fragrant flowers, and an incredible food table filled with dishes created from Broad Branch Farm food. Music filled the air as Kailey McGillis of Toluca, Illinois entertained with her violin. Forty-four children participated in the kids craft where each child painted a cloth shopping bag using beets, carrots, and bok choy as stamps and vegetable juices as paint – they were all beautiful. It was an outstanding day with much friendship, learning and good food shared.
Check out the Field Day Menu below which tells the story of the food served on Sunday. It really is incredible to sit down to a meal made almost solely from food produced locally. We like that very much and we hope those of you that attended enjoyed it as well. Now it’s head down, hands busy, and focus on getting through the rest of this season.
What a box this week! Gorgeous food and more on the way until the end. Enjoy.
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| Field Day Kid's Craft - Handpainted Shopping Bag |
In Your Box Today
Tomatoes – Today you will receive two pints or a pint and a few slicing tomatoes. We’re just seeing a slow decline in production as these fall temperatures continue their own decline.
Potatoes - We are finally able to dig the potatoes. Not seeing great yields so far but we’ve only dug a couple beds. Today we are distributing two varieties – smooth skinned Carola (similar to Yukon Gold) and the darker skinned Goldrush Russet.
Green Beans – This will be one of the last harvests from the green beans. The plants are practically void of flowers and we left just a few immature beans behind. These beans are soup beans – larger and more mature – but certainly still quite good.
Salad Mix – This week’s salad mix includes arugula, escarole, French sorrel, red and green leaf lettuces, and the deep purple mizuna like green called Red Rain.
Fresh Sage – The sage planting is beautiful and abundant – the aroma is intense and sure reminder of warm, comforting foods like soups and stews. Include a few leaves of sage in your next soup or stock.
Swiss Chard – The chard is abundant and beautiful right now and we want to distribute it before a hard frost damages the beautiful leaves.
Peppers – It is the same story with the peppers right now – we want to begin distributing fruit that will not mature to the beautiful colors you have seen this season.
Beets – The beets today are beautiful with big healthy greens to match. Remove greens and store roots and tops separately. These beet roots are so good and sweet they only need steaming or boiling, then peeled to prepare.
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| Lucy and Emily Harvesting the Field Day Salad Greens |
Recipe
Quinoa Tabouli Salad
Recipe by Chef Monika Sudakov, Chestnut Street Inn, Sheffield, Illinois
Served at the 2011 Broad Branch Farm Field Day
1 cup organic quinoa
2 Cups Water
1 cup small tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Handful fresh mint, chopped
1/3 cup lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
Cook quinoa. Using a fork, lightly fluff the quinoa and then spread out in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Allow to dry for an additional hour before using and then transfer to large bowl. Add tomatoes, cucumber, onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro and mint to quinoa. To prepare dressing, whisk lemon juice and olive oil along with the salt, pepper, cumin and paprika until well combined. Pour over the quinoa and vegetables and toss gently to mix. Allow to marinate for at least one hour in the refrigerator. This salad tastes better after marinating 24 hours.
Broad Branch Farm Field Day Lunch Menu
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Pit Roasted Organic Pastured Pulled Pork on Apple Butter Wheat Roll
Our delicious pulled pork today comes from purebred Berkshire hogs born on Joe McKenna’s farm in Capron, Illinois. Joe raises his hogs clean – no antibiotics, no growth hormones, no GMO feed. The young hogs come to our farm where they are pastured and fed a high quality certified organic grain ration until reaching a market weight of approximately 250 lbs. The hogs also enjoy all the vegetable trimmings, weeds, and the occasional bucket of eggs – their absolute favorite – shell and all. The pork for today’s meal was prepared by our good friend Anthony Perry of Brimfield, Illinois. The process began Thursday night with a rub of brown sugar, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and black pepper. The four pork shoulders were hot smoked “low and slow” with hickory and cherry wood for 15 hours on Friday to produce the tender flavorful meat you have today. The sandwich is completed by the homemade organic Apple Butter Wheat Roll prepared just a few miles from our farm at the Braker’s Dozen bakery. The bakery is operated by Audrey Braker - a woman of incredible energy, mother of 10, avid gardener, and baker.
Pastured Organic Chicken Breast Marinated With Fresh Thyme, Oregano, Lemon, and Garlic With An Herbed Egg Bun
The chicken today comes from Broad Branch Farm. Our broiler chickens enjoy a certified organic grain ration and plenty of room to graze. It is this diverse healthy diet and room to roam and graze that produces chicken with a fine flavor and texture. The meat was marinated overnight in a marinade including olive oil, fresh lemon juice and zest, fresh thyme, oregano, and garlic from our garden. The sandwich is completed by the homemade Herbed Egg Bun made by Audrey Braker of the Braker’s Dozen. This organic roll includes our pastured organic eggs.
Pastured Organic Hot Dog on Whole Wheat Roll
locally made organic hot dogs using Broad Branch Farm pastured pork and beef
(kids meal)
The organic hot dogs are produced from Broad Branch Farm organic pastured pork and our grass fed grass finished beef. Made by Bittner’s Eureka Locker of Eureka, Illinois, the meat and seasonings are organic and no artificial ingredients have been added – just healthy raised pastured meat and seasonings. The texture is meatier and flavor is more complex like a sausage rather than a traditional hot dog.
The sandwich is completed with the organic roll egg roll made with our pastured organic eggs from the Braker’s Dozen.
Vegetable and Herb Frittata
organic pastured eggs, seasonal vegetables and herbs
(vegetarian option)
The frittata today is made with Broad Branch Farm pastured organic eggs from our pastured laying flock. These hens enjoy a life of freedom – freedom to graze, lay where they choose, and roost at night where they please. This is not the easiest way to raise a large flock of laying hens as weather is always presenting challenges but it produces the finest eggs. Also included is MarjoAcres organic raw whole milk from the Todd and Val Steiner family of Tremont, Illinois. The flavorful dish is finished with our own fresh herbs, sweet peppers and summer squash.
Quinoa Tabouli Salad
The Quinoa Salad starts with certified organic quinoa and is combined with Broad Branch Farm late summer vegetables including a rainbow of tomatoes – Sungold Cherry, Black Cherry, Juliet, and Mountain Magic. Added to the dish are cucumbers, fresh spearmint, parsley, and fresh red onion. The dressing uses our pungent fresh garlic, lemon, olive oil, cumin and paprika.
Caprese Salad
The Caprese Salad uses two types of tomatoes today – deep red Ball’s Beefsteak and our favorite heirloom, Arkansas Traveler. The beefsteak tomato is raised in the west hoophouse where it enjoys the comforts of indoor living –protection from wind, storms, and plenty of warmth. The Arkansas Traveler is a tomato adapted to many conditions – dry, wet, cold, hot. It seems to do well in every season producing perfect fruit every time. The second ingredient is the homemade mozzarella cheese made by Chef Monika from MarjoAcres raw organic whole milk. Fresh basil from our garden, olive oil, and a balsamic reduction finish this delicious dish.
Salad Greens
The salad greens today come from Broad Branch Farm and include red leaf lettuce, green romaine, escarole, arugula, French sorrel, Red Russian kale, the intense deep purple green Red Rain and just a sprinkling of baby cilantro sprouts. Almost all the greens came from our shade house which protects the greens from heat and even driving rain and wind that can damage tender leaves. This combination of greens and lettuces creates a salad with intense flavors, beautiful colors and tenderness. The salad is decorated with Broad Branch Farm hardboiled pastured organic eggs, cucumbers and the very orange and sweet Sungold cherry tomatoes. Chef Monika created the roasted garlic chive dressing with Broad Branch Farm fresh garlic.
Dessert
Custard Cake with Raw Organic Whipped Cream
Chef Monika has created the custard today with Broad Branch Farm organic pastured eggs and MarjoAcres organic raw whole milk. The dessert is topped with organic raw cream also from MarjoAcres.
Your food today was grown and prepared by:
Broad Branch Farm, Wyoming, Illinois – Meat, Eggs, Vegetables, Herbs, www.broadbranchfarm.com
MarjoAcres, Tremont, Illinois 309-925-5221- Milk and Cream - Raw organic dairy, contact to purchase raw organic dairy products
Braker’s Dozen, Speer, Illinois 309-249-3000 – Organic Rolls
Chef Monika Sudakov, Chestnut Street Inn, Sheffield, Illinois 1-800-537-1304 www.chestnut-inn.com – Fine dining, bed and breakfast
Anthony Perry, Brimfield, Illinois – Pit master for pulled pork.
Thank You For Supporting Local Organic Agriculture
www.broadbranchfarm.com
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