Week 1 of the Sport Hill Farm CSA

Nicole and I decided to invest in a farm this year, support local organic produce via a CSA, or community supported agriculture, so we signed on with Sport Hill Farm in Easton.  For the next 21 weeks we'll eat what the farm provides, although truthfully we'll need to supplement some because one basket a week isn't quite enough produce for our growing family.  But the idea in doing this was to learn to work with what is available seasonally in our land of southwestern Connecticut. We'll try to utilize the vegetables in such a way that we need not mix them up with other produce from, say, California or something.  Seems like it would kind of defeat the point of highlighting local agriculture to adulterate it with too much non local stuff, but I won't make any promises yet.

When we got our first haul Friday afternoon, the stuff looked impeccable.  Verdant, healthy greens without a lot of blemishes or wear and tear that might occur if it was being trucked in from far away.  We knew in advance what we'd be getting, so we had time to think of some dishes to use.  Some of the things were new to us, so we had to take the farm's advice on how to eat them, as well as doing research online.

We had 1 head of oakleaf lettuce, 1 head of red romaine, 1 napa cabbage, 1 bunch of dandelion greens, 1 bunch of spigariello and a bag filled with bok choy.

First up Friday night we tried the dandelion greens and the spigariello.  The latter is in the broccoli family, and has a mild flavor of broccoli with the texture of the little green leaves that sometimes come on broccoli stalks familiar in grocery stores.  We cooked the dandelion greens with some sweet onions in butter to counter their natural bitterness, and then we cooked the spigariello with garlic and some spicy chorizo in olive oil.  Even though dandelion greens are considered bitter, they are pretty mild in flavor, and they become tender easily, though the stalks retain a nice crunch even after 5-10 minutes of cooking.  The spigariello wilts easily but has a nice texture, reminiscent to me of collard greens.

For sauteed dandelion greens, simply cut 1 bunch of them into strips crosswise while you heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium low heat in a frying pan.  Slice a medium onion into thin strips and saute in the butter until soft and beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the greens and toss in the pan to coat with the butter and wilt.  Season with some salt and add about a quarter cup of water or stock to the pan to help steam them, then cover and let cook for about five minutes.  Season to taste with salt and serve.

For the spigariello, take the leaves and cut the stalks out because they can be tough.  Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat and when shimmering add 2 links of chorizo sliced into half inch rounds.  Cook, tossing occasionally, until the chorizo is browned and has exuded some of its fat.  If there's too much fat in the pan, drain some off.  Add 1 clove of thinly sliced garlic and let cook for one minute, then add the spigariello and toss to allow it to begin wilting.  After a couple minutes add about a quarter cup of water or stock and cover, allowing it to steam for five minutes or so to get tender.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Saturday we had company for wood fired pizza, and we used the two lettuces, oakleaf and red romaine, in the best way I know how; simply tossed with good olive oil and sea salt.  The oakleaf is like bib lettuce, very tender and buttery, but a little more curly and I think even better.  The romaine has a familiar texture, and dressed with just a little bit of fresh tasting olive oil allows you to really enjoy them as simple as they are.

The napa cabbage was a no brainer for us, coleslaw all the way.  It's more leafy than the firm cabbage most often used for the summery side dish, but it works.  We used Sport Hill's own recipe for slaw dressing and doctored it up a bit.  Take 1 head of  napa cabbage and shred it or cut it into thin slices.  In a mason jar place 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon celery seed, 1-2 tablespoons good brown mustard, 1 teaspoon raw agave nectar and a few pinches of salt.  Shake to combine, then toss the cabbage with it.  Refrigerate for at least an hour and serve.

Finally, we had the bok choy, and it was Monday.  Only Monday...we'd need to go 3 days without more Sport Hill produce until the next bounty, oh well.  Since we got the basket I was thinking of some won ton wrappers I had in the fridge.  So I decided to do pot stickers, or Chinese steamed dumplings with pork and bok choy in them.  It was a bit ambitious on a Monday night after work with the two boys needing dinner and baths and play time, etc., but we made it work.

The cooked bok choy was chopped and mixed with ground pork and seasonings like scallion and ginger, then wrapped up and steamed/sauteed.  Not quite as good as tasty as Chinese takeout let's say, but it definitely had a fresher appeal.

To prepare the pot stickers, blanch 1 bunch bok choy leaves and stalks for two minutes in boiling water, then shock in an ice bath, drain.  Squeeze and press in the best way you know how to get as much liquid out as possible.  Chop it up into pretty small pieces.

Mix 1 lb. of ground pork in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh ginger, 2 chopped scallions, 2 teaspoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and salt to taste.  Mix in the bok choy and then assemble the dumplings by placing tablespoons of the meat mixture on the won ton wrappers, wetting the edges and then sealing them.

Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium high heat in a frying pan and when shimmering add the dumplings, and let brown for 2 minutes without disturbing.  Then add enough water or stock to a depth of about 1/4 inch, turn the heat down to medium low and cover.  Let them cook for 5 minutes or so, then remove the lid and let the water evaporate.  Serve with soy sauce with a little rice vinegar mixed in.

Week one in the books, looking forward to this Friday to see what's next!

Chiappetta Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Organic and First Cold Pressed From the Toe of the Boot

Terroir is usually considered a sommelier term, a way to describe the unique characteristics a wine achieves from the soil, climate and situation in which the vines grow.  But I don't see why olive oil can't be appreciated on a similar level. 

After all, like the grape vine, the olive tree is a crop of biblical proportions, often aging into the hundreds of years, sometimes even thousands.  Long appreciated for its salubrious attributes, there are over three hundred cultivars of olive in Italy alone, making for a multitude of nuances and distinctions in flavor.  Whatever your tastes are, you ought to have a high quality olive oil on hand to enhance both your food and your well-being.   

That said, a lot of Italian olive oils these days, extra virgin or not, are blended; the bulk of the olives come from industrial-scale operations around the Mediterranean and are only bottled in Italy so as to be passed off as Italian.  They are sufficient for cooking, but typically lack the character and quality of those made to be consumed as "finishing" oils. 

Fortunately, Chiappetta Extra Virigin Olive Oil is an artisan product: their Carolea olives are grown organically in San Vincenzo La Costa, Calabria by a family with ninety years of experience.  Being first cold pressed  and extra virgin means that the fruit is ground to a paste and pressed in the traditional method only once, and throughout the process the olives are never heated above 80° F.  Treating them with this level of care keeps the acidity level very low (.8% or below for EV status) and reduces oxidization, which at higher levels will damage the flavor profile of the oil as well as destroy some of its nutritive qualities.  So basically from earth to bottle the Chiappettas do everything right to extract the best possible expression of olives in liquid form. 

The relatively recent appearance of this product on American shores is due to the collaboration of the Chiappetta family, both those still in the Cosenza area and their relatives here in Norwalk, CT and Toronto, Canada.  After years of producing their oil and selling it to larger firms in Italy to be bottled under someone else's label, the family began bottling and selling the oil as their own proprietary product in Italy.

It was when brothers Pat and Frank Chiappetta visited the family's property not too long ago that they realized the legacy and importance of their family's work for so many years.  They wanted to celebrate it and show their appreciation by availing it to more people.  Realizing the boundless market for premium olive oil (and organic to boot) in this country, they worked out the details to begin importing, bottling and labeling it here for retail.  Now it's truly a family business from start to finish, with Pat, Frank and all their children involved to support the growing business stateside.  It's brought the family, despite an ocean separating them, closer together.  The only incongruity now is in how the oil and the family name are pronounced: Kya-pett-a over there, Chya-pett-a here.          

Compared to the more popular Tuscan and Sicilian oils that currently dominate shelves, Chiappetta Extra Virgin Olive Oil is subtle in flavor. Lacking the pungency and pepperiness of Tuscan olive oil, and less direct in the grass and raw artichoke department than Sicilian, Chiappetta's tastes of fresh olives; fruity and with a distinct herbiness.  Pepper on the back of the tongue comes along gently at the finish, making for a very pleasant olive oil mild enough for a range of dishes.

Start by dipping good loaf of rustic bread in it for the litmus test.  From there I'm a big believer in respecting terroir across the board...so if I'm eating a dish akin to something found in Calabria, I'd like a wine and an olive oil from around there too.  A simple but satisfying dish that's Calabrese in spirit, as I mentioned on the Chiappetta website, is comprised of simply roasted peppers, eggplants and onions, garnished generously with this oil at the finish as a flavor enhancer, adding complexity and fullness on the palette. 

Not that you have to wait for Calabria Appreciation Night at home to break out a bottle...the mild fruitiness of this oil is ideal for simply grilled fish dishes where you don't want too much bitterness or pepper, and even white meats like poultry and pork.  Save it for the moment you serve a dish when the oil's aroma intensifies as it hits the other ingredients, producing another layer of flavor.

You can order Chiappetta Extra Virgin Olive Oil from their website, or by visiting the constantly increasing list of stores that sell it throughout Connecticut and New York, where they also host frequent tasting events.  The Kya-pett-as and Chya-pett-as will thank you.