SELLMEYER FARM NEWSLETTER

Wow it's hard to believe, but this is the 25th week (last week) of our CSA year! Today you will be receiving eggs, winter squash, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes, cardoon, fennel and celeriac! Now I know everyone is going what is cardoon and celeriac??? So here is some information from my favorite book "From Asparagus to Zucchini" a guide to cooking farm fresh seasonal produce.

CELERIAC
Celeriac, also known as celery root, has an obvious but unusual kinship to the common celery. Its stalks & foliage are similar to those of celery and are edible. However, the celeriac is cultivated for its edible bulbous root crown. Celeriac's growing season is very long.
Celeriac is very popular in Europe, particularly in Germany & France where our commonly known stalk-type celery is rarely used. Actually celeriac was not uncommon in American cooking back in the 1800s.
Do not be put off by the celery root's rough exterior. Inside, a surprisingly delicious and versatile vegetable waits to be added to your culinary repertoire. Celeriac has an excellent crisp texture raw or cooked, and super-concentrated celery flavor, enhancing its usefulness as both vegetable & seasoning. Celeriac is high in carbohydrates, vitamin C, phosphorus, and potassium.
COOKING TIPS:

Slice off stalks at the root crown. Soak the root in warm water to loosen dirt in the crevices, then scrub thoroughly with a stiff vegetable brush. If exterior is too tough, peel with a sharp knife.
Peeled celeriac will darken when exposed to air. To retard darkening, toss with lemon juice or keep in water. Lemon juice can also be added to cooking water.

Parboil peeled celeriac whole for 20-30 minutes 1/2" to 1/4" slices for 5-8 minutes.
Bake celeriac in its skin at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Peel & prepare as needed.
For extra celery flavor, use instead of common celery in soups, casseroles, stir-fries, etc. Use stalks & leaves for seasoning.

Try celeriac in hardy winter soups & stews, or puree for a flavorful, creamy soup base.
Boil & mash celeriac with potatoes.

Now on to Cardoon. This one is a very different thing, and maybe not for everyone, but it will be fun to at least read about and give it a whirl!!!! There are several different web sites with information and recipes, so just click on the highlighted words, Cardoon. This is the first year we've grown this, don't know if we'll do it again, but every year you just have to try something "new" and see what it's like and how it grows. Cardoon may not be the best choice for our zone as it takes a longer growing season and you don't harvest till it gets cooler, like now, but it doesn't like frost. So most years we probably wouldn't be able to raise this. So give it a try this may be the only time you'll every see this!

Enjoy this last week, hopefully everything was good and you had a good experience maybe even tried things you'd never had before. Hopefully we'll see you again next year.