This Week:

• 1 head Red Lettuce
• 2 Beefsteak Tomatoes
• 1 head Savoy Cabbage
• 1 bunch Carrots
• 4 Red Pears
• 2 Ripe Bell Peppers
• 1 bunch Rainbow Chard
• 3 pounds Chieftan Potatoes

 
Letter from Hedlin Farms, September 9, 2014
Well, the word is out, Jules and I welcomed our daughter, Clara Elizabeth Ottesen, the first in the 5th generation of the Hedlin Family into the world last week, and what a week it has been! I appreciate your (assumed) forebearance with my absence last week, and if not, then too bad! But the vegetables, they don’t stop growing on anyone’s account, no matter how cute, so neither do we, at least not for long.
Sounds like Lauren pointed you in all the right directions last week, but if by some chance you still have vegetables lingering in your fridge from weeks prior, we have just the recipe for you!
This week’s recipe comes from our good friend, Kevin Morse—a man of many talents, not the least of which are culinary. This is a recipe he made straight out of last week’s CSA box with a few other things he had lying around the house. The version Kevin made last week was itself a variation of an old family recipe known simply as ‘Nana’s Greens’ and any version you (or he) make in the future will invariably be a little bit different than the last time.
This is a fridge-mopper of a recipe, perfect for using up the bits of this and that that you haven’t made it to yet. So, don’t fret if you have a little less cabbage and a few more potatoes, or a few more onions and not quite as many peppers in your version—Nana won’t mind, though she would top the whole pan with Italian breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese before setting it to bake…and there’s nothing stopping you, either.

Kevin’s Nana’s Greens

Ingredients:

• 1 head cabbage (any kind), cored, quartered and coarsely cut into strips [Ed. Note: You could use chard in place of all or part of the cabbage if, you know, you felt like it…]
• 2-3 medium onions, diced
• 3-6 anaheim peppers, cut into thick, short strips
• 1-2 ripe bell peppers, cut into thick, short strips
• 1-3 lbs. potatoes, diced or cut into small rounds (for fingerlings)
• 2-3 tomatoes, cored and sliced into wedges
• Sausage, cut on bias (Kielbasa or Italian are good, but any savory sausage is OK. Ham, prosciutto, bacon, or ground sausage are good too)
• 6-10 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 2 tsp each marjoram & oregano, ground if dry, minced if fresh—add or subtract herbs to taste (basil, thyme, parsley, etc. will work too)
•  Salt & pepper to taste
• Hot pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

1. Cook meat through to serving temperature beforehand
2. Preheat oven to 350°F
3. Bring chicken broth to a simmer on the stovetop.
4. Prepare vegetables as described above. In a large bowl, toss vegetables with meat, herbs, salt, pepper, & hot pepper flakes.
5. Spread combined ingredients on a large (huge!) baking pan.
6. Drizzle simering chicken broth over pan, cover with a lid or aluminum foil and set to bake.
7. Bake for 45 min., stir with tongs halfway through to ensure vegetables don’t stick to the pan. Remove cover after approx. 30 min. so any excess liquid evaporates.
8. Vegetables should be cooked through and tender, with no excess liquid in the pan.
9. (Optional)Cook longer for additional caramelization/crispiness, but watch closely to avoid burning. / 10. Serve immediately, either as an entrée or as a side.

 
In parentis,
-the chardmonger