Gastography

Boo! This is my last CSA box for the year, and man did the time fly. I’m going to miss my boxes of veggies and meat shares during the winter.

This year’s CSA was from Brooklyn Beet CSA. Brooklyn Beet provides veggie shares from Angel Family Farm, a sustainable farm located in Orange County, NY that was created with the support of GrowNYC’s New Farmer Development Project; fruit shares from Hepworth Family Farm, a 250-acre NOFA-certified seventh-generation family farm in Milton, NY; baked goods from Wild Mountain Bread based in Brooklyn; and a wide variety of grass-fed beef, pasture raised pork, and other products (like other meats, cheeses, bread, flour, grains, lax-fermented vegetables, pastas and other pantry goods) from Lewis Waite Farm, which sources from over 35 local family farms.

I purchased a half share, and received a box containing 6-8 vegetables (about 2 bags worth) every other week from June – October (11 shares), and also ordered a carnivore share box from Lewis Waite (4-6 lbs. of meat) for pickup each veggie week, plus a “Challenger Share” for the season (6 deliveries total) containing odd bits like animal fats, organ meats, neck bones, shanks, and rendered lard. The price of my CSA averaged out to $25.50 per share for veggies, plus an additional $45 per pickup week for meat/offal.

I felt the value for dollar was pretty good compared to other NYC-area CSAs I’ve participated in, and the variety of vegetables provided was pretty good. I actually kind of missed the usual late-summer glut of zucchini, and only really felt menaced by cucumbers and corn throughout the season.

 

Brooklyn Beets 2015 CSA Box 11

1 huge stalk teeny brussels sprouts
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 kabocha squash
1 bunch radishes
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch scallions
Lewis Waite Meat Share Box 10

1 whole chicken
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. mock tenderloin steak

Pictured but purchased separately: pork shoulder

 

How I Used My Share

I turned the kabocha squash into a pumpkin chicken curry.

I glazed the tenderloin in bourbon chipotle sauce and pan-seared it – served with paprika & garlic dusted brussels pan seared alongside the steak.

Unsurprisingly, the lettuce didn’t make it.

I made simple pulled pork out of the pork shoulder.

I’ve thrown random radishes in a few dishes.

I made a nice little Thai-inspired ground pork bowl with some carrots, the scallions, and a few radishes.

One of the pumpkins went over to the dark side before I could do anything more than revel in it’s fall-ness.

The last of the green tomatoes and serrano chilis from a few shares ago finally died in the bottom of my veggie drawer (much to my relief).

And I plan on slow-cooking the chicken whole and serving it with zoodles.

Leftovers: Those damn lamb kidneys that were part of one of the challenger shares, a whole bunch of un-rendered lard from a challenger share I still need to address, 1 teeny tiny little steak,

My Favorite Dish From This Box

This week, my favorite was the Thai pumpkin chicken. That dish was freaking delicious. Hopefully my attempt at whole slow-cooked chicken turns out equally as awesome.