Cold and soggy, dark and stormy.....ah the weather continues it's frenetic pace into summer. Second CSA pickup went well. Nice to see all of you again. I was a bit cold and damp after being outside in 2 days of this stuff. Barre Farmer's market went well also. Glad I brought my cheezy little canopy and set it up. Lost quite a bit of an asparagus cutting to the darned frost. Oh well, saved the cilantro and dill and the asparagus will bounce back. Need to start planting the fields the next few days. Outdoor cukes, tomatoes, winter squash, zuchinni. Beans are in and so is the corn. Let's hope it gets some heat now. I was actually wearing my fleece line pants last night and sitting in front of my fire. I will not turn the oil furnace on though. Well take care and here are some ideas I sent to all my CSA members for some of the early season crops that are out there. Joe

Baby Turnips- slice and eat them raw with rice wine vinegar. Another tasty dish is to sauté them with olive oil very quickly add some curry powder and some chopped up scallions. Finish with a bit of coconut milk and serve on steamed rice. You can also sauté up the greens with the turnips.

Sage—In a heavy pan put some oil or butter and brown the chicken breasts on one side then turn them over, let them brown a bit more. Next add some Dijon mustard and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Pour in some white wine and scrape the bottom of the pan so it’s clean, leave the breasts in the pan while you are doing this. Next add enough heavy cream so that there is about an inch of liquid in the pan. Sprinkle the chopped sage leaves in and cover the pan. Let the breasts simmer for about 15 minutes covered then another 5 minutes uncovered. This is great served on rice or pasta. Don’t forget a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

Sorrel- this is a tart/sour herb that is used in classic French cuisine for Salmon. So go get some salmon ( I suggest trying the seafood at the Uncommon Market in Montpelier, it’s good quality seafood, something rare in Vermont) and you can either grill it or pan sauté it similar to the chicken above.  After you have either grilled or sautéed the salmon, melt a bit of butter and add the sorrel to it. Pour it over the fish and serve.

Oregano and Chives---put in a blender with some salt and pepper add about a ½ cup of olive oil. If it is still too thick add a bit of water to thin it out. Puree it until you have a smooth consistency. This stuff is great on chicken and beef, use it like a steak sauce or ketchup. If you want to get creative add toasted walnuts and a bit of lemon juice with some parmesan cheese and you have very different version of pesto.

Chives----Pan sautéed scallops. Chop the chives up and have them ready use all of them, scallions will work for this too. In a heavy bottomed pan (cast iron skillet is great) put some olive oil and butter. Let it get really hot and sear the scallops until nice and brown on one side. Turn them over and add the chives a bit of white wine and some salt and pepper. Be careful adding the white wine the oil may pop a bit. Let the scallops finish cooking, about 4 minutes and you now have the sauce also.  These are great with a salad for a lighter meal or serve with some linguini or egg noodles.

Happy cooking