Raspberries have finally arrived. We were waiting patiently as they went from flowers to tiny white clusters to beautiful sweet red berries. It seems like they are about a week behind last years ripening date. We know because we were asked by a French language streaming service to come out and film our farm and in particular our raspberries. ICI TOU.TV is part of CBC/Radio-Canada and features a show called Les quatre coins de l’assiettee (The four corners of the plate). That episode covered Restaurant Pearl Morissette and the farmers that provided the produce to them. They booked us in the early spring and wanted to feature our raspberries. We checked our records and gave them a date to come out. That is why we know things are about a week behind last year because we were sweating as the date approached and we had nothing ripe! But as it turned out we were able to get enough ripe berries for the dessert and it all went well. If you want to see our taping watch for season two, you can access it on-line.
Here is what you can expect this week:
Raspberries Fresh picked daily, these sweet and tart beauties are summer-bearing which means they only ripen a few weeks in the summer and then they are gone. If you love raspberries and want more, check out our on-line store. We have “all hands on deck” picking this week and next.
Stir Fry Mix A mix of greens for stir-frying, braising and blanching. Red and green mustard, kale, red and green mizuna, tatsoi, tsoi-sim. Also great raw as a hearty salad.
Turnips We just love this versatile veggie. Treat it like two different vegetables, the bulb and the greens. Roasting turnips mellows their sharp flavour and makes them wonderfully tender. The greens can be chopped up and added to your salad or as a quick saute with mushrooms and garlic.
Fresh Garlic Cloves Has a more powerful taste than cured garlic, full of moisture so it will cook faster too. You will be getting more garlic later in the season so just use it up. Since it isn’t cured you need to store it in the fridge. The greens can be added to your stock pot.
Swiss Chard One great recipe we return to each year when Swiss Chard is in season is our Rumar Farm Spicy Sausage and Chard Pasta. If you have been with us for a while you should know it well. So easy, you just cook 12 oz. of pasta (I prefer linguine) Sauté in a large wide pan hot Italian sausages (3-4 links) castings removed with chard stems. Add your chard leaves, couple of tomatoes, 1/2 cup onions, and two large garlic cloves…everything chopped up. Cook for 4 minutes then stir in 1/2 cup cream. Portion into bowls over the pasta and top with fresh slivered basil leaves and shave fresh parmesan cheese. Serve with a large salad.
Sugar Snap Peas The final sampling of our pea series, this week sugar snaps. One of my favourite to snack on raw or chop up and add to my salad.
Fresh Oregano An herb in the mint family that’s been used for thousands of years not only to add flavour to cooking but for medicinal purposes as a great antibacterial agent.
Enjoy
