eG Foodblog: Chardgirl - 21st Century Peasant

[bleudauvergne]

This blog is really inspiring! Thank you so much for doing this! I have put up my favorite cardoon recipe for a gratin in the RecipeGullet - Here (click).

Reminiscing about my tumultuous young 20's experience when I spent a year at the Presidio in that area. That fog. It was a very romantic time.

Something I like to do with celery root too is grate it and serve it like a slaw with a vinaigrette or mix of vinaigrette and mayonnaise.

[Pan]

chardgirl, do you get negative phone calls about radicchio because of its bitterness or what? I actually think really fresh radicchio is terrific, and it's only because the radicchio we get in New York is rarely fresh enough that it's often a bit more bitter than I prefer.

[Swisskaese]

I have never seen watermelon radishes. Those are beautiful. They do look a bit like guava on the inside.

I have never had cardoons, but I know that besides frying them, the Italians also make soup from them. Some are vegetarian soups and some are made with meat.

They also serve them with a lemon-egg sauce, similar to avegolemeno or hollandaise. For this dish you boil them until tender, stir fry them in olive oil with garlic, herbs, etc. and serve them with a avegolemeno/hollandaise type of sauce.

Edited November 30, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)

[Susan in FL]

This is awesome! I'm glad you are blogging.

I wish you shipped! (You don't, do you? )

[azureus]

for photos nearly all taken by Mr. Chardgirl of our vegetables...

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That's a truly amazing set of photos, and it'll take me quite some time to get through all of them. One question: Armenian Cucumber is called a "true melon." I thought regular cucumbers were also a kind of melon. Perhaps someone could clarify what makes something a melon.

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Pan--True cucumbers are Cucumis sativus, while melons and Armenian cucumbers are Cucumis melo. They are in the same genus, and so are closely related.

April

[chardgirl]

I am truly astounded by the variety of produce and the scope of your business,  How many acres do you have? 

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good morning all... my breakfast is green tea this morning. I'm saving room for the lunch in Monterey: daughter and I will be lunching at Stokes Restaurant: the chef loves our produce and his mom is a San Francisco frequent market shopper. She would call him after Saturday market and say "Brandon, these are the most beautiful beets/chard/insert other vegetables here" and he would call us and beg us to deliver, so we do: only to his restaurant and one other friend's house where she runs many dinner parties.

Ruthcooks: we grow our row crops on 34 leased acres in Hollister, CA. It's about 30 miles east of our home ranch. I know this doesn't sound ideal... Mr. Chardgirl and I live on our 20 acre home ranch in Watsonville, CA: it's pleasantly hilly, with LOTS of yummy poison oak for the goats, and about a total of 5 or less farmable acres. BUT we have very little water here at our home ranch. If we're irrigating the rosemary rows (by drip irrigation only!) I can't do laundry that day.... So we leave the 34 acres of GREAT farmland in Hollister from some very cool landlords... and there's a wonderful ag well out there too. Most of our employees live closer to the field.

I'm leaving off photos of my cup of green tea, but promise plenty of photos tonight of the days adventures and tonight's cooking class....

cg

Edited November 30, 2005 by chardgirl (log)

[chardgirl]

funny one of chufi's posts and yours mentioned chioggia beets - maybe johnnybird would eat and enjoy that if i could find them . 

He might actually. My husband HATES beets but he actually likes roasted chioggias in a salad. Another friend of mine who hates beets asked me to order him a bunch from my farmer after having a salad of them at our house. My favorite early winter salad is roasted chioggia beets, mezuna, goat cheese and marcona almonds, with a lemon, olive oil and sumac dressing. It's the easiest thing but I'm constantly asked for the recipe.

I have a couple of bleeding heart radishes in the fridge that I need to use up. Probably some asian slaw or something. I also have a monster tatsoi . It's really tough to get back to the supermarket once our farmer's markets shut down.

I like to make a celeriac remoulade using yogurt instead of mayo -- very nice and refreshing.

By the way, in Lebanon they eat raw goat's liver like sashimi. They cut it into 1/2 inch cubes, and eat it with pita, dipped in salt and middle eastern pepper mix. With arak. For breakfast. (It's actually very good!)

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I make a similar roasted beet salad and it often converts 'beet haters' into "I still don't like beets but I like this salad' people.

With the red-meat daikon (yet another name for watermelon radishes ) I also make a slaw. and I slice them up for a potato-chip replacement product, and today I'm going to try to make a soup out of them: only because we have so many it's my duty to figure out how to use them! For the slaw: I like to slice them up on my Benriner mandolin for nice even strips. stay tuned for my soup project...

Raw Goats Liver... I admit I'm unlikely to try this: but I will definitely put the crew and guests and husband to the challenge. I don't care for liver in any form (no, not even stuffing or fois grois, spelling!? I don't speak French at all, just Spanish!)

cg

[avocado]

Hi ChardGirl!

I live in Madison, WI- a very agricentric town with a gorgeous farmers' market. Thanks for the glimpse into the lives of the people I buy from every Saturday. I'm really enjoying this blog.

[chardgirl]

I didn't realize goats were slaughtered so young.  Do the kids have any attachment issues?  Is it difficult to realize you are eating something so cute???  I imagine with the kids growing up on the farm that it is just a fact of life and normal in their experience.

I'm curious, you are in Watsonville and Rancho_Gordo shows his location as Napa, those are quite a drive apart...what farmer's market do you both go to?  Where is it located?

Another question (sorry if this is too many!) have you always been in farming?  If not, how long have you been in the farming way and what did you do in your prior life?

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3 questions = not too many at all.

The goats are slaughtered when the chef/cook in question prefers it. ie: the folks from Michoacan like them larger for birria, at least a year old. I don't know why, possibly this is an economical way to feed folks and they have plenty of ranchland back home to get the goats to this size.

We're told that in Italy it's a treat to have young, milk-fed kid. One possibility for this is that when a small farm with not so much land has little boy goats they don't have room to keep them: the brothers can start breeding their sisters as young as 3 months (yes, 12 weeks old!) so you'd have to have a special pen to keep them separate... we castrate ours into 'wethers'. When we have too many wethers and a chef friend from SF wants the treat of young kid for their own holiday gathering or something, we'll do that.

Yes, our kids(humanoid kind) have attachment issues. They each have their own goats, (girls only!) and they are constantly reminded to not name the little boys that won't be with us for long. We feel it's teaching them where their food is coming from, even if they don't eat goat, we aren't vegan.

Right now we are just starting the new 'crop' of cute cute cute baby goats. We have about 5 'new' moms: and 4 of them are GREAT moms. One needs to be turned into CPS (child protective services): her name is Towel and she will NOT let her baby nurse. So Towel will be slaughtered sometime in the next year because the goat CPS are too busy to visit us. The kids aren't happy about that, but there's not room on the ranch for rotten mamas. Meantime, Manny and Mr. Chardgirl have to catch Towel and hold her down while her baby (boy) swigs as much as he can. One week later he's already much skinnier than his cousins, but he's determined to survive his rotten mama!

Yes, Rancho Gordo and I both sell in San Francisco on the embarcadero, photos will be forthcoming on Saturday.

Ah yes, Me and Farming. I fell into it via marriage. I was born and raised in Venice (that's the CA version, not the Veneto version), as was my father. My mom is also LA born and bred. I hated all the driving, so moved away at 18... went to college etc, then found myself living in central CA, teaching 3rd grade and then 1st grade, then I was married to an organic farmer. I continued to teach until the babies came. I love being self employed, and I love fresh produce, and I love the farmers market. the 6 day weeks, the muddy harvests (not me personally, I do all the office stuff), the ridiculously low pay, that's at times hard to swallow, but I figure I can go out and get a 'real' job when the kiddos are gone, right?

There are market-scale farmers who make a decent living money-wise... But we are often distracted by our kids, we don't have a trust fund pillow (I'm not whining here, really, just reporting), and we don't own the land we grow the majority of our crops on.

I'm off to the paperwork piles, I'll check in again before the sojourn to Monterey....

cg

[BarbaraY]

I fixed cardoons one time many years ago. As I recall, I had to string them, blanch in boiling water, and then fried them with some kind of coating.

I think we liked them but not enough to go through all those steps again.

I'll probably be going through your area some time next month. My youngest daughter lives in Santa Cruz so I'll go if there is no fog in the Valley.

[Abra]

Wow, you have members who don't want radicchio? I'll take it every week, if you put cardoons on the once-a-decade list. As far as I can tell, you eat cardoons as a vehicle for fried batter, butter, cream, or anything else that will give it flavor. I can detect a faint, faint flavor of artichoke heart in the cardoon itself, but otherwise, to me, it's just a stick of fiber. Is something wrong with my palate?

Chardgirl, are you making cheese from your goats' milk? If so, please to a cheese show and tell for us.

[chardgirl]

Wow, you have members who don't want radicchio?  I'll take it every week, if you put cardoons on the once-a-decade list.  As far as I can tell, you eat cardoons as a vehicle for fried batter, butter, cream, or anything else that will give it flavor.  I can detect a faint, faint flavor of artichoke heart in the cardoon itself, but otherwise, to me, it's just a stick of fiber.  Is something wrong with my palate?

Chardgirl, are you making cheese from your goats' milk?  If so, please to a cheese show and tell for us.

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chai recipe herechai recipe here

Abra: re: radicchio: our CSA membership is very diverse: some 'foodies', some chefs even. But many people with non-food passions who just want to eat healthy. They want lettuce and carrots and onions and tomatoes. Maybe they're busy so they don't read the newsletter... and they taste the red lettuce, then call us to let us know our lettuce is bitter that week! We enjoy selling radicchios at the farmers market, and we learn lots about how to prepare our vegetables from our savvy customers, folks just like YOU.

cg

[CaliPoutine]

"Right now we are just starting the new 'crop' of cute cute cute baby goats. We have about 5 'new' moms: and 4 of them are GREAT moms. One needs to be turned into CPS (child protective services): her name is Towel "

Sounds like Towel could be related to Michael Jackson's so called child who's name is Blanket.

( sorry, couldnt help it)

[tejon]

Sounds like Towel could be related to Michael Jackson's so called child who's name is Blanket.

(drum riff)

Years ago, we bred Beagles and sold the puppies. The "bad" mothers were a real problem, especially since there were often five or more puppies trying to get sustenance all at once. Those dogs got adopted out to senior living centers pronto for the very same reason you cite - there just wasn't room for any animal that didn't contribute properly.

How much daily care do the goats need? I was always surprised at the amount of work faced with a pack of adult dogs.

[rancho_gordo]

From an earlier post, this is Flor de Junio:

[chardgirl]

From an earlier post, this is Flor de Junio:

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We'll be cooking those for this weekend. Would 5 pounds do well for 30-40 people?

I'm about to post lots of photos of our day...

cg

[chardgirl]

I'm going to start to document our day in photos. My favorite of the day I think:

This is Son Aged 10 standing with Mike's homemade DRIED pasta at Quince. Many restaurants do make their own pasta, but their own dried pasta? I'm impressed. But so is San Francisco, I think it's difficult to get a reservation at this place. He dries the pasta in a sunny window on the side of the restaurant that people/neighbors can look at when they walk by.

BTW: I usually don't name the restaurants we sell to as a general rule, but until someone tells me STOP I will for reporting today and also on Saturday, I hope that's kosher. It seems germaine to this blog....

This is at 4:45am at their first stop: the only restaurant south of San Francisco we sell to on the route: Piatti Santa Clara. That's son hauling the produce, as Mr. Chardgirl documents the day in photos.

The pastry gal at Greens after Son Aged 10 shmoozed her: he got apple huckleberry charlottes for he and his sister for dessert tonight. They didn't know about this blog, he just scores stuff like that....

Mr cg said he wants this to be an honest blog: they stop at Safeway just before dawn (after a few stops) and get a donut, fresh off the racks! See childhood weight issues thread nearby for more info

This is son aged 10 on the truck with the invoices with the transamerica building trying to show it's outline in the background. The light wasn't cooperating with Mr. Photographer, but he wanted you to know he tried.

I've more to try, but first to clean up the kitchen to prepare for CARDOON CLASS. Thanks to all for posting recipes/ideas/experiences with the cardoon.

I'll put more photos up later.

ok 3 more of the Monterey part of our day:

Daughter Aged 8 and I ate at Stokes Restaurant after delivering our produce...

[chardgirl]

Captions for those last three Monterey photos:

1) Daughter with her house-made sausage pizza: "It's the best pizza I've ever eaten" she declared.

2) Mise en place (I wonder if I spelled that right?) in the kitchen

3) Monterey sardine crostini with a parsley/egg sauce. It was delicious.

stay tuned for more

today may not seem like much of a 'farm' day: but part of how we make our farm a success is by direct marketing everything, so some days we're in the city doing just that. It's been fun getting to know the scenes in the kitchens we sell to.

And the Aquarium visit was part of homeschooling, below is one photo of a few food-related ones I took today:

That's a plastic bat ray and a tray of what THEY like to eat!

[chardgirl]

Dinner tonight: cardoon gratin class then a great dinner. A bit heavier than last night...

The cardoon-potato gratin came out beautifully. The 10 year old refused to try it, but then he was tired from a long day of working. The 8 year old didn't make it that far, she was already sound asleep when it came out of the oven.

We also had fried green tomatoes (Martin is also a farmer, and they were the very last last of his 2005 tomato crop.) I ate 1/2 of one: it was tangy. Martin said it was crying for aoili (sp?) but we didn't get that far, THANK GOODNESS. We also cooked up some fillet of beef I had thawed. We bought a quater section of a cow from our friends who sell their grass fed beef directly to the public: Morris Grassfed Beef out of San Juan Bautista.

And to cut all that grease everywhere on the plate I cut up some delicious oranges I buy at farmers market every week. They are from Riverside and they taste like an ORANGE should: sweet and juicy yes, but also with a tang that has flavor.

CardoonGratin Recipe

[Zucchini Mama]

Hey Chardgirl,

Thanks for your chai recipe. I have been experimenting with mine, and still am trying to get it more spicy without getting bitter. I will make your recipe and sip it while munching on my chai spice shortbread and reading your fantastic blog. That pasta in the sunny window in Quince looks so beautiful.

Finally a tea person! Yay!

Zuke

[chardgirl]

Here are some photos of the making of the gratin:

This is the way the stalks were prepared to start before the blanching:

The mixing of the gratin:

The recipe is here in recipe gullet

Edited December 1, 2005 by chardgirl (log)

[chardgirl]

If the cardoons are still growing it would be interesting to see a photo of them.  I've read that they look like a huge thistle plant but I'm not sure if I've seen one.  Alice Waters mentions that sometimes the stalk is covered for part of the growing season to promote tenderness as the plants get larger.  Is this something you've seen or tried?

Also, can you describe where your stand is up at the Ferry Building (in SF)?  Are you in the front or back?  It would be fun drop by and visit the next time I'm there buying Rancho Gordo beans among other things!

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The cardoon and artichoke seed somehow got mixed up when they were planting so the plants are all together in a random pattern in the field. I'll see if I can get a photo of that little field. I'll also ask Mr. CG how he blanches the cardoons, if he does at all.

At the Saturday Ferry Plaza farmers market we are in the back plaza. We're across from Star Route Farm: They are looking into Ghandi's face, we're looking at his backside.

[chardgirl]

As you continue this foodblog, would you not only give the answers but also some recipe suggestions, please? Simple recipe suggestions, just like your "hurry up" dinner tonight.

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yes: the hurry up dinner was really a hurry up. The only 'cooking' was the turnip greens: I sauteed in olive oil a bit of chopped garlic for 5 seconds over med. high heat (really NOT long, you don't want the garlic to burn) then added washed, sliced turnip greens. you could use washed baby spinach, beet greens, kale, chard........ Then I cooked it for a short time then season with S &P and I've got my greens for the day!

The escarole/grated raw turnip/feta salad was dressed with lemon juice, oil, and S & P.

cg

[chardgirl]

And re: the Glorified Rice recipe...that WAS 4 Tablespoons sugar?  I hope, I hope.

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Yes, I thought it was 4 lbs of sugar, but after a couple of our newsletter readers pointed it out to me, it's now obviously 4 TBS sugar! We're referring to the recipe card written out decades ago by Mr. CG's grandmother. He wrote a story about it here and her recipe card photo is here.

[chardgirl]

(I think it was from the old Joy of Cooking) mentioned parcooking them in acidualated water,

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Yes! thanks for reminding me: Martin did add the juice of half of a lemon to the water. I couldn't find the cider vinegar but I had a bunch of lemons sitting around....