Nettle Frittata

Nettle Frittata

1 bag Stinging Nettles (approx 1/4 lb)

 6 duck eggs

Fresh chives (approx 1/2 bunch)

Olive oil or butter

Salt and pepper

1. Blanch nettles, drain, and rough chop (see nettle instructions).

2. Chop chives fine.

3. Beat 6 duck eggs in bowl.

4. Add nettles, chives, salt and pepper to eggs and mix.

5. Heat some olive oil or butter in a skillet, and pour in beaten egg mixture.

6. Cook without stirring over medium heat a few minutes, until bottom is set. FLIP the frittata by holding a plate against the skillet and flipping it on to the the plate. Then slide the frittata back in the skillet and cook a few more minutes.

Slice and serve with spinach salad or something else tasty!

Jenn's Honey-Pickled Red Onions

Delicious on a spinach salad or a panini sandwich!

From Jenn Legnini of Turtle Rock Farm

Ingredients

2 pounds Red Onions, sliced ¼” thick
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups red wine vinegar
¼ cup honey
2 Tbsps black peppercorns
1 tsp salt

Recipe

1. Bring water, vinegar, honey, peppercorns and salt to a boil.

2. Pour over sliced onions.

3. Refrigerate overnight.

Option: Can in pint or half-pint jars, leaving ½” headroom. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Chive and Tarragon Duck Egg Omelette

Herbs are in! It's always exciting to have the first flush of anything, and spring herbs are really special. They add fresh, flavorful dimensions to any dish, and egg dishes are especially suited to highlight the herbs used with them. You can use any herbs you choose, but we really like this combination of chives and tarragon. This recipe serves two hungry people.

Ingredients
Two sprigs tarragon
5-10 chives
Four duck eggs - five to six chicken eggs if you want to substitute
Olive oil, butter or bacon fat (for the pan)

        
Recipe
Put a skillet on the stove on medium-high. Put your cooking oil of choice in the pan.
Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat lightly. Strip the tarragon leaves from the stem and chop into about 1/2" pieces. Chop the chives more finely, to about 1/4". At this point you can mix the herbs into the eggs,where they will make beautiful green specks, or save them to go just in the middle (in the middle they will be just-warmed, not cooked, so you get more fresh-herb flavor).
When the oil is shimmering - but before it smokes - pour the beaten eggs into the skillet. Turn down to medium-low. If you like a gooey omelette, add your herb (or other) filling (see notes!) when the underside of the omelette just starts to brown and bubbles have come through to the top surface. If you like your eggs firmer, wait until the surface of the eggs loses its shiny look to add your filling.
Gently fold the top half of your omelette over onto the bottom half. If cheese was one of your additional fillings, wait a minute or two for it to melt. Otherwise, cut in half, serve, and enjoy!

Note: Other great fillings include cheese of any kind, sauteed spinach, mushrooms, nettles, or pea shoots, cooked bacon or sausage...the sky is pretty much the limit!

 

Spinach and Meatball Soup

This is a favorite in my (Ailish's) family. My parents made it a lot when I was growing up and, even though it had spinach in it (gasp, vegetables!), I always loved it. 

Ingredients
1 pound ground meat (we suggest pork!)
1 egg, beaten
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs (or GF bread crumbs; or mashed potato)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

6 cups stock or broth (my parents always used beef broth, but your favorite will work well)
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups dried pasta (or GF pasta) - usually ditalini, but other small pasta like orzo, stelline, etc. work well
Spinach, coarsely chopped - 1/2 pound if you want it spinach-lite, 1 pound if you loooove spinach

Recipe
Pour the stock and water into a soup pot and bring to a boil.
While the soup comes to a boil, combine meat, egg, garlic, cheese, bread crumbs, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Form into balls about 3/4 of an inch wide.
Once the soup boils, add the meat balls to the soup. 
After all the meat balls are in, add the pasta. 
Stir, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
When the pasta is done to your liking, add the spinach. Sometimes it is helpful to add it in batches so it all wilts promptly.
Once the spinach has wilted - serve!

For a vegetarian option, add diced potato (give it five or so minutes before adding pasta if you cut a large dice) or shiitake mushrooms (add with the pasta). 

Kohlrabi Hash Browns

Kohlrabi Hash Browns

From Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables.  By Farmer John Peterson and Angelic Organics via our customer Karen and her work at the FARMS Community Kitchen. Thanks Karen!        

Serves 4 to 5

Ingredients

• 4 medium kohlrabi bulbs (about 1 pound total)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• 2 tbsp. dried bread crumbs
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• ¼ tsp. dried red pepper flakes
• black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions

1. Peel and grate kohlrabi.  Wrap in dish towel and squeeze away excess water.
2. Combine eggs, onion, bread crumbs, salt, ginger, red pepper and black pepper in a large mixing bowl.  Blend together.
3. Add kohlrabi and mix together.
4. If desired, roll into 1 inch balls.   
5. Heat oil in large, heavy skillet.  Add kohlrabi mixture or balls to skillet.  Flatten the balls with spatula or continuously mix the mixture.  
6. When golden brown, flip the flattened balls.  (5 to 7 minutes per side)