CSA Demo Day!

Patrick and Damien Explain Brining

So we had a little get together at the house to demonstrate some things you could do with all the wonderful fruits and veggies you get in your local CSA bag. Post-demo we had quite the time drinking schnapps (the banana was particularly popular) and talking shop with the folks that came. Here’s a couple of CSA-friendly recipes we came up with:

Tomato Consommé

Ingredients:
- 8 medium sized tomatoes (roughly 4 pounds)
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
- 2 tbsp fresh horseradish, grated
- 1/2 cup vodka
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp salt
- 3 tsp black pepper
- basil blossoms and olive oil to garnish
- 1 slice of fresh red beet (for color)

Implements:
- cheesecloth
- kitchen hook
- butcher’s twine
- food processor

Process:
- cut tops off of all tomatoes the quarter them, cut and quarter bell peppers as well
- put all ingredients (except beet, basil blossoms) into a food processor, puree until slushy, note that this may have to be done in two batches depending on the capacity of your food processor
- double the cheesecloth and lay it across the top of a large bowl, slowly pour the tomato mixture onto the cloth, you may need someone to help hold the cloth to ensure nothing spills over the edge
- carefully bring the four corners of the cheesecloth together and tie it closed with twine, this essentially creates a bag of tomato mixture
- hang the bag using the kitchen hook from a shelf in your refrigerator over the bowl and let the liquid drip into the bowl until there is no more juice dripping (approximately 6 hours)
- serve chilled in a bowl or cup and garnish with a few drops of olive oil and basil blossoms

Tomato Jam

Ingredients:
- 3 lbs cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 lemons, halved and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cane sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- pinch of cumin
- 1 cinnamon stick

Process:
- combine all ingredients in a pot an cook until mixture thickens, stirring occasionally
- remove cinnamon stick and chill jam for 1 hour
- jam can be served or placed in a jar and stored in the refridgerator for up to 1 month