Thursday, August 21, 2008

Mariquita Farm Mystery Box August 2008

Picked Up From Piccino Earlier This Evening
picture photograph image picked up at piccino 2008 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
Above is a picture of what I found in my extremely good value, $25 'Mystery Box' from Mariquita Farm:

Beets
Carrots
Chard
Fresh Shelling Beans
Two types of basil
Sorrel
Romaine
Heirloom Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Courgette
Squash
Peppers

One of my personal goals for this month was to 'cook up a storm' from the Mystery Box, whch I pre-ordered a couple of weeks ago, and I certainly made a good start this evening.

Tonight we dined on the following:

- Sorrel Soup (made using a half-sized version of the Shrek Swamp recipe).

- Fresh Shelling Bean Salad with cucumber, basil, tomato and pepper (using a vinaigrette with shallot and walnut oil as recommended by David Lebovitz).

- Zucchini and Potato Latkes.

- Baked Shelling Beans; tomato, roasted pepper and guanciale.

I also made some red pepper and garlic confit which has gone into the fridge, along with the leftovers, ready to be enjoyed another day.

If anyone has any exceptional carrot salad or other carrot recipes, please let me know! Thanks...




QUESTION OF THE DAY graphic copyright sam breach
?What Would You Make With This Gorgeous Bounty?


Archives
2005 | Alemany Farmers' Market
2004 | Greek Feast - A Dinner Party in Celebration of the Olympics

© 2008 Sam Breach
Mariquita Farm Mystery Box August 2008

11:20 PM  

26 Comments:

  • At 21/8/08 23:52, Blogger Alexis said…

    We get their weekly CSA box and we LOVE it.

    Alexis @ SeeUsEat

     

  • At 22/8/08 04:15, Blogger ChrisB said…

    That looks a good variety of veggies

     

  • At 22/8/08 08:38, Blogger Beccy said…

    They all look like vegetables should not like supermarket versions, delicious.

     

  • At 22/8/08 08:52, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Oooh, zucchini/potato latkes. Lemme at'em!

     

  • At 22/8/08 09:07, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Truly a locavore's still life come to life. What beautiful bounty!

     

  • At 22/8/08 12:34, Blogger cookiecrumb said…

    Ilva over at Lucullian Delights did a sort of scorched carrot dish with thyme; I'm doing it no justice with my description. It sounded great.

     

  • At 22/8/08 12:52, Blogger Kasey said…

    Those heirloom tomatoes look divine. Every time I see them at the market, I light up at the possibilities. I am definitely considering ordering the mystery box--what a great deal!

     

  • At 22/8/08 14:17, Blogger meathenge said…

    Hmmm, vegetables sure look pretty.

    Biggles

     

  • At 22/8/08 14:37, Blogger Marco said…

    While I liked 'em much better when they listed all the veggies they had available, and let us pick our own stuff, this is just a wonderful deal. I'm just itching to get to the San Marzano tomatoes again, only one helping left from the 40 pounds of sauce I froze last year!

    They almost always bring lots of carrots in the bags, so I've gotten to use them as dipping instruments, sliced in rounds or sticks to consume with Will's avocadoes pureed with some lemon & tarragon.

    Or I'll pan fry them, chopped into pieces, with a little oil and butter and some coriander, cumin and smoked paprika.

    Or I'll pull out the tagine and throw them in with the heartier greens, some potato, the above mentioned spice mix, some tomato sauce (see above), stock to cover and your favorite meat, and stew for however long you like.

    The tagine concept comes in very handy when I have a few of the vegetables I want to use up.

     

  • At 22/8/08 14:50, Blogger Manger La Ville said…

    This is a great value. Rose Bakery has a great carrot salad. I also like roasted carrots, you can add some fresh herbs or even olives to make it special. Enjoy the bounty!

     

  • At 22/8/08 18:56, Blogger Sam said…

    great ideas everyone - thanks. Marco - I actually canned some of their San Marzano's last year to and I am down to the last few. I like the Tagine idea, since I have one and don't use it often enough.

    I've got my cooking mojo on, for sure!

     

  • At 22/8/08 20:22, Blogger Catherine said…

    great question! I would make sorrell & Leek custards with goat cheese (Deborah Madison), a tomato, cucumber and romaine salad, roasted tomato, courgette, pepper and squash napoleons, soup with the beans, carrots, chard, and basil and any other leftovers. Beet salad with ginger.

     

  • At 23/8/08 14:56, Blogger El said…

    1. grind 1 tsp cumin seed to coarse powder
    2. add 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint, 1/4 tsp salt and pound and blend well.
    3. add 3 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, pinch of sugar and mix well. let stand in a cool place, well sealed, for up to 24 hours.
    4. stir 3 tbsp plain yogurt into the dressing.
    5. mix with 2 lbs carrots, thinly sliced & steamed until just tender (5 min), and fresh ground black pepper.

     

  • At 24/8/08 06:48, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Carrot som tam or gajjar ka halva!

     

  • At 24/8/08 08:39, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Oh, won't it be sad to see summer go? Those vegetables are beautiful! I use my carrots in a simple tomato sauce, sugo pomodoro, and it has such sweet results.

    Eileen (passions to pastry)
    www.livingtastefully.com

     

  • At 24/8/08 15:00, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I love the idea of a "mystery box." I wish we had that in Seattle!

     

  • At 25/8/08 02:59, Blogger FaustianBargain said…

    mm..carrots..

    firstly...carrot halwa, of course!

    carrot doesnt taste good if you cook it to death. crunchy grated carrot salad with serrano chillies and lemon juice...if you are a ginger person, you can add some grated ginger too....goes well with plain, unsweetened yogurt.

    lemon glazed, julienned carrots with toasted sesame.

    carrots also goes well with mild anisey flavours..star anise, fennel seeds etc.

    i learned to make vichy carrots which..frankly..i didnt 'get'. perhaps it would have been different with real vichy water which has its own mineral profile. you could try cooking carrots in some kind of sparkling water.

     

  • At 25/8/08 11:23, Blogger Trex said…

    I got the same box and am loving it. Also made sorrel soup! Used the tomatoes, red peppers and cucumber as base for terrific greek salad. The carrot and cilantro soup recipe from Chez Panisse Vegetables is my go-to when I have too many carrots. Give it a try.

     

  • At 25/8/08 15:21, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    101 Cookbooks has a great recipe for a wilted carrot salad, absolutely delicious. Heidi calls it the "Sunburst Carrot Salad", and it is now one of my favorite ways to eat carrots.

     

  • At 28/8/08 18:27, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Capetonians make a carrot salad by slicing up as many carrots as you feel like eating with a vegetable peeler so that you have masses of thin carrot peelings. To that add as much coriander as you feel like (removed from stalks or roughly chopped), a vinaigrette of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice or good wine or champagne vinegar, the peel of one smallish lemon, salt and white pepper to taste. Check the taste and ensure that the vinaigrette is not too sour. Mix into salad using your hands, refrigerate.

    Nowadays people stir in crumbled goats milk feta into that and it's really good.

     

  • At 29/8/08 00:25, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Sam, check this out, there's your picture on Bauer's blog. He's thinking of you re: anonymous reviewer, a topic you broached here!

    Here's the similar picture they ran way back when.

     

  • At 29/8/08 08:37, Blogger Sam said…

    thanks so much everyone for all the carrot recipe ideas. Carrots are the only thing left I have to do something with - so this weekend...

    And Ced, shhhh! I noticed that too and I was trying to play it down!

    I thought it was a bit dumb of them to use a blogger to illustrate a post about professional critics.

     

  • At 29/8/08 16:09, Blogger Almost Vegetarian said…

    I keep debating about getting a CSA box, but never get around to doing it. And if a CSA is perfect for anyone, it is certainly perfect for someone who write a vegetarian blog!

    That's it. I'm opening up my browser right now.

    Cheers!

     

  • At 29/8/08 22:06, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I love a good carrot soup or even more - carrot pudding!!

     

  • At 30/8/08 20:50, Blogger lobese said…

    tortilla soup!

     

  • At 30/8/08 21:41, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Dear Sam:

    Carrots: fun. I make something great (grate) with them that I've made since college days, when my best friend was Inger Evans, from Chattanooga, Tennessee. BELIEVE IT OR NOT.

    Very simple. Grate carrots coarsely, and lightly sauté in UNSALTED butter until just limp and thoroughly warm or hot. (You have to try this out a time or two.)

    Add some grated nutmeg. Add a sprinkling of sea or kosher flake salt.

    And that is Carrots Caroline (pronounced "CARE-o-line).

    Children love it. We love it. I hope you love it.

    Zucchini = fritters. Or my favorite use: light sauté in Persian lime olive oil with some salt and flake salt. TO DIE.

    And my goodness, how fortunate you are to be part of the CSA for Andy and Julia's farm. That is so not a true "mystery" box, which should contain all kinds of things I've never touched.

    Cheers, Ms. Beautiful.

     

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