Auntie Em's Kitchen, Catering and Local Organic Produce Delivery: Produce list for 10/5

Friday, October 2, 2009

Produce list for 10/5

End of summer, begining of fall produce. Or as Elissa my assistant puts it: where the apple meets the peach!

Cippolini Onions- are specific to Italian cooking and cuisine and they are represented by smaller onions, which are relished for roasting and Kabobs. The onion can vary in colors, but the most common one is the yellow cippolini in a flatter shape.
Red Leaf Lettuce

Butter Nut Squash- One of the most common ways to prepare butternut squash is roasting. To do this, the squash is cut in half lengthwise, lightly brushed with cooking oil, and placed cut side down on a baking sheet. It is then baked for 45 minutes or until it is softened.

Tounge of Fire Beans-a beautiful shelling bean. Crack the seam of it, and pop out the beans. Cook in boiling salted water with some peeled galic, onion and herbs for about 12 minutes. Then toss into salads, soups, stews or curries.

Acorn Squash- Acorn squash is most commonly baked, but can also be sautéed and steamed.

Black Kale- Black kale (Tuscan kale) is a member of the brassica family which hails from Tuscany where it was developed in the 18th century. To use, remove center ribs from all but the smallest leaves then blanch leaves for 3-4 minutes. Cool then squeeze out the leaves and sautee them with garlic and olive oil. This is a very hearty green and pairs well with rich dishes of pastas, beans or pork.

Marjoram and Thyme Bundle-these herbs are great in any soups, stews, braises and with roasted veggies. (Use them on your Acorn or Butternut Squash when you roast them.)

Music Garlic
Crimson Sweet Watermelon-end of the season
Cherokee or Brandywine Tomatoes-end of the season
Sun Gold Tomatoes- coming to the end of season

Leeks

Yummy Pluots-coming to the end of season
Autumn Flame Yellow Peach-coming to the end of season
A mix of Golden Flame, Natural Thompson and Natural Flame Raisins
Red Flame Grapes
Farms we buy from:
South Central Organic Farms . Tutti Frutti Organic Farms . Soladad Goat Farms . Jimenez Farms . K and K Farms . Mc Grath Organic Farms . Wieser Farms . Finley Farms.

1 comment:

UnknownOctober 6, 2009 at 12:14 PM
I made this recipe last night with the yummy black kale in this week's delivery - it was like eating bits of heaven!! My boyfriend even said it was so flavorful it was like eating bacon...Kale=Bacon? Yet oddly, no meat was used.

Go to: http://www.latimes.com and Search for the "Cavolo Nero" recipe entitled "AOC's black kale dish is a savory feast" (Wasn't able to re-post here for some reason).

Paired it with a simple pasta with olive oil, garlic and red pepper. Perfect.
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Why I Started Auntie Em's Organic Local Produce Delivery Service

You might have already figured out that these produce baskets are my passion. I opened the restaurant 10 years ago, and have been doing the catering for 14 years now. I hit a point a couple of years ago where the restaurant and the catering pretty much ran themselves. I have the best staff in the world (all friends). I found myself in a place where I didn’t have that much to do anymore. For months and months I tried to come up with something to do. Another restaurant-no way! If I were 20 again, I might have the energy to do it all over. But as you probably know, it is really hard to start a restaurant. I didn’t want to have to do it all over again.

While visiting New York a few years ago, I came up with the idea for the produce baskets. Everything in New York City is delivered! Dry cleaning, groceries, sheets, furniture, plants-everything. I would sit in cafes sipping coffee and watch chefs from all of the local restaurants wheel carts of food to office buildings. This really got me thinking. I would bring the beautiful produce from the local farms to my customers who cant get to the farmers markets. This, I knew was not reinventing the wheel, but I wanted to personalize my service. Give recipes, let customers know what farms their food is coming from, pick all of the produce myself, and really inspire people to start cooking again and get them excited about food. Most importantly, the service would give back to the community. It would support local, small sustainable farms; it would keep the money local, giving it to small local farms rather than a big corporation. Which also means that there are less people in our area having their food shipped in from who knows where. Less demand for food that has no taste, that is sprayed with pesticides, that is grown by giant corporations that only have regard for making money and don’t have a passion for what they are actually doing. Less demand for it means they sell less, produce less and ship less!

I also wanted the service to offer “cute” boxes, and not crummy grocery sacks; something that could be re-used over and over. This, to be honest, was the hardest part. I searched and searched high and low for an appropriate box. I finally designed and had made the boxes that you get today.

I wanted a grass roots company. Not a giant company that needed backers with lots of money to start it. That is how I started my restaurant. When we got more customers I would get more boxes made, and so on. I am happy to report we have a new space to pack the boxes. We grew out of the space that we used in the back of the restaurant. We have tripled the amount of customers that we started with. Yes, my team has grown from one (me) to Tommy and Scott (your delivery people), Michelle (handles new customers and billing) as well as Fabian and Virginia (who helps pack the boxes). The farms and farmers that I buy from are ecstatic. I am helping bring their hard work to more people.

Most of all my customers are happy. I get so many emails about what you are cooking, how much your kids love it, how this produce has totally changed they way you and your families eat and how you are introduced to produce you have never had before.

I set out to do everything I wanted and much more. I have a little community of healthy eating foodies, more friends that I am employing, happy farmers, and my little contribution to a healthier society.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Produce list for 10/5

1 comment:

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