This week’s box includes: hakurei turnips + greens, sweet Italian peppers, sweet potatoes, apples, daikon radish, red potatoes, cornmeal and a sugarkin pumpkin! You can see a photo that can help with identification on our Facebook page or check out our weekly video on Instagram.
Need storage instructions? Visit our fruit & veggie home pages. Click on the pic and a new page opens with storage instructions and a list of recipes curated by Conne Ward Cameron over the years.
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More fall produce fun! In her Instagram post this week, Charlotte suggested that the cute little butterkin squash would make a great fall decoration, until you eat it. Use it in any recipe calling for butternut squash.
Daikon radish makes a return this week, a turn that I’m happy for as our previous weeks’ diakons withered even though they were stored in the refrigerator. Make sure you store them in the vegetable drawer where they’ll last much longer. Lop it in half to make it fit, if needed. Read the previous week’s notes with more info and recipe ideas for using daikons.
The little brown bag in this week’s boxes contains our cornmeal! This is the same cornmeal previously sold under Riverview Farms’ name, still milled by Wes’ twin Brad who’s now working under a different company name (Artisan Milling Company, his own), with a new mill and the ability to ship his product across the country. Riverview still grows all of the heirloom corn varieties he uses, as we have for 20-some years. Check out our cornmeal recipe list.
Brad mills his cornmeal to a fine consistency – never gritty like those commercial brands. A closer approximation to a flour than a meal, this cornmeal happily substitutes for part of the wheat flour in many recipes adding sweetness and tender crunch without annoying molar-impacting shards. I probably wouldn’t sub it into a layer cake recipe, but I’ve had great results with muffins, pie crusts, and especially pancakes. It’s become a treasured staple in our kitchen.
Coming late in the year, this bag seems destined for a Southern Cornbread which in turn serves as the foundation for Cornbread Dressing. Try Charlotte’s go-to recipe for your upcoming Thanksgiving. Or take the sweet road with this Apple Upside Down Cornmeal Cake.
The hakurei turnips in this week’s box were lookers, right? So pretty. Hakurei bulbs are mild and tender. They can be enjoyed raw in salads, grated or cubed. My favorite hakurei turnip recipe dates from my very first farmers market encounter in Atlanta: slice and sautee with a spash of soy sauce to finish.
Our turnip page has a wide variety of recipes whether pickling, or enjoying in a salad, soup or pot pie. Try Kohlrabi and Turnip Slaw, or Roasted Turnips with Maple and Cardamom. I also found this easy recipe from Conne Ward Cameron for Steamed Tokyo Turnips Nested in their Greens.
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My favorite hakurei story doesn’t involve cooking, at least in my kitchen. One year, when Halloween fell on a Saturday we passed out two-foot tall hakureis with greens to trick or treaters. Suprisingly, the kiddos were enthusiastic to get a vegetable that was half their size. My dad used to laugh and say “I bet you found them on the street the next morning.” Nope. In all the years we’ve been passing out produce, the only reject was one sweet potato left on the hood of my car. Maybe a baby apple.
What next? Charlotte mentioned carrots are likely for next week. Fun! I hope they have the tops intact for one last shot at fresh pesto which would be delicious over cubed potatoes.
Suzanne