Friends of the Farm-
Warmer weather this week has not only continued to encourage the peak of Albion Strawberry season, but has also pushed our orchard into action. First up will be our organic plums! Stay tuned, but at their current rate we hope to have fresh plums for you in a CSA box perhaps 3 weeks out.
It's been a few weeks since we've opted for a cocktail recipe in lieu of a suggested savory dish. That said, it's Friday and we've got not one, but two cocktail recipes featured this week to highlight the herb sachet in this week's CSA box. Highly recommended having one of these in hand while you sit down to shell your fava beans. Cheers!
A reminder on best practice for preparing your Fava Beans:
For recipes calling for Fava Beans, this means double shelling. Start first by extracting the bean from its pod. Snap the end of the bean to pop its top. If you pull towards the thicker side of the bean you can "string" the bean by pulling the natural seam the runs down its side. Running your finger down the bean also works here. Pop out the beans and set aside. To ease in extracting the inner tender bean, start some salted boiling water for a quick blanch. (This will also help the beans keep their bright green color).
Blanch beans for roughly 1 minute in the bubbling water. Drain and let cool, 3-5 minutes. Pull the cap of the inner bean, which looks like a little pull-tab. Squeeze the inner bean out of its outer shell and you've done it! Bright, fresh favas!
Don't forget to tune into this week's edition of our CSA music playlist. Link to our Spotify playlist is attached below to join the groove.
All hail Stevie Wonder! A few favorites this week- the funky rhythms of the track Yes Indeed (Super Sounds Namba), the iconic B-3 Hammond organ stylings of Jimmy Smith's, Blap and Thee Oh Sees cover of The Creation's, If I Stay Too Long. Also, how is it that Toots & The Maytals seem to always find a way of putting a smile on the face of their listener?!? They do it again with a cover of Country Road, trading illustrations of their Jamaican home for John Denver's West Virginia mountain tops. Enjoy!
All our best from the farm,
Tom & William and Live Oak Farm team
