These are shishito peppers. Most of them are not spicy at all, but every so often you get one with some heat. We put them in a little wax bag in your shares so you'd know they are different. The other peppers in your bag are large, green, bell peppers. We don't think you'll confuse them. If you're hesitant to eat spicy peppers, this is a great entry-level chili to give your dish a little of the flavor without much heat. The classic way you'd see them served in a bar is fried on a hot pan with some salt and oil. The patrons who get a spicy one will order another beer.
Announcements
It's hot outside. Really hot. And your plants have rebelled. The beans and squash we were counting on have quit producing, and the tomatoes aren't quite ready. But never fear! We have promising weeks ahead. Instead, you'll notice your share is a little heavier this week with some of the items that will keep well for many weeks to come--potatoes, onions and garlic.
If any of you have kids that will be doing a little fishing this summer, you should check out the Fish Adaptation video from one of our educators, Leigh Auth (who has also been helping us in the farm fields!). She explains how you can learn a lot about where a fish lives and what it eats based on the shape of its body.
We were surprised and honored to be featured by Food & Wine as one of the best farms in Maryland!
This week's share
2 heads garlic
3 pounds potatoes
1 pound red and yellow onions
2 green (unripe) tomatoes (these will ripen if you wait long enough, but if you haven't tried fried green tomatoes yet, now's your chance!)
1-3 cucumbers, depending on size
2 green bell peppers
2 shishito chili peppers (they vary from mild to no heat at all)
a couple other additions to your bag
Recipes
Fried Green Tomatoes:
Here's a classic recipe from Southern Living. If you don't happen to have buttermilk, you can substitute with regular milk and a little white vinegar.
If you don't want to fry them, here's a similar recipe that's baked.
And here's one that is even simpler, and can easily be vegan if you sub margarine for the butter.
If you don't like fried green tomatoes, remember that green tomatoes are tart and crunchy, and you can eat them raw or cooked. Here's a green tomato and melon salad recipe. It calls for honeydew melon, but consider swapping the honeydew for the yellow Korean melon that you might have in your share this week.
Coming Soon
Tomatoes are looking great. Everyone will get some by next week.
A few more weeks and you'll be getting sweet, ripe, orange and red peppers. In the meantime, enjoy the green bells.
Within 2 weeks, we think we'll have enough eggplants for everyone.
A little okra beginning next week, and then more in the weeks following. The plants look good. They're recovering well from some groundhog damage.
Potatoes, onions and garlic will continue. Once we've given out all the red onions, we'll switch to shallots. Yum!
Hot chili peppers are just getting their start with the shishitos this week. Next up will probably be jalapenos.
Let's hope for a soaking rain and some cooler nights!
Thanks so much for being our members,
Carrie and the rest of the Clagett Farm team