Salsa Verde

Ingredients:
1 quart tomatillos
1 fresh onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 chile pepper
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt
Cilantro, chopped

Roast the tomatillos, onion quarters, garlic cloves, and whole pepper in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Then, transfer everything into a pot on the stovetop and simmer it for another 15-20 minutes. When it's cooked down, use a stick blender to blend it together. Add lime juice and salt to taste and stir in cilantro. Enjoy!

Zesty Pea Shoot Pesto

Here’s something you can do with a bag of our pea shoots!

Crush 1 clove of garlic and chop in the food processor with some a pinch of sea salt and 1/4 cup roasted pistachios (or other nuts). Add the pea shoots (our standard bag is 1/4 lb), 1/4 c EVOO, and 2 Tablespoons lime (or lemon) juice and pulse until blended to the desired consistency. Add 1/2 c grated parmesan (or similar), and serve as a zesty cracker spread.

Farmer Ben's Roasted Pepper Soup

Here’s a great soup to warm you in the winter! It uses our frozen roasted peppers and tomato puree. We like to serve it with cornbread or crostini, and salad with homemade buttermilk ranch :)

Ingredients

1 package of Whatley Farm Hot or Sweet Italian Peppers

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 medium potato, chopped

1x 24 oz jar of Whatley Farm Tomato Puree

Bit of butter and olive oil

Dashes of herbs and spices like basil, parsley, oregano, rosemary and thyme

1 generous splash cream or half and half (optional)

1. Do ahead: thaw the peppers.

2. Once thawed, remove the stem and seeds and chop the peppers. Set aside ⅓ of the peppers to add at the end.

3. Sweat onion, carrot, and celery in a bit of butter and olive oil, using a saucepan on medium heat. Add salt and any herbs/spices you’ve chosen.

4. Add one chopped potato and cook until they soften.

5. Add the tomato puree and bring to a high simmer. 

6. Add ⅔ of the chopped peppers and let soup simmer for 20 mins or so.

7. Blend the soup with an immersion blender. Back on the stove, add the remaining ⅓ of the peppers. 

8. Optional: add a splash of cream or half and half just before serving.

Chef Ali's Roasted Peppers with Pomegranate Molasses & Walnuts

Roasted Peppers with Pomegranate Molasses & Walnuts

This dish takes its flavor from a Middle Eastern Dip Muhuhmarra… and it is so versatile. The peppers make a terrific addition to a Meze plate, along side  hummus, olives, and toasted pita or try them on top of a flatbread with warm goat cheese, served them aside grilled lamb or fish  or bake chicken thighs with and serve with cous cous. They are lovely with roasted delicate squash and some tahini and one of my favorite ways  is to mix them in a bowl of warm farro and top with an olive oil fried egg, a dollop of yoghurt and a handful of fresh herbs.

[Ailish's note: We have roasted peppers for sale at the Crystal Spring Farmers' Market in Brunswick from late summer to fall. If you miss the freshly roasted ones at market, we also have hot and sweet frozen roasted peppers available in our freezer at all of our markets.]

• 1 pound mixed roasted peppers ( ILOVE a mix of hot & sweet in the recipe), seeded, de-stemmed, and cut into strips
• 2 tbs Olive oil
• 1 or 2  large cloves fresh garlic, chopped
• 2 tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 tbs Pomegranate Molasses
• ½ cup Toasted walnuts
• 1 cup torn Fresh Mint, Parsley and/ or Cilantro.

1. Whisk together garlic, olive oil, pomegranate molasses.
2. Pour over peppers and let marinate up to 4 days.
3. Mix in walnuts and herbs just before serving. Tastes best at room temperature.

How to make scrumptious roasted peppers if you don't have a fancy roaster:

There are more aggressive ways of roasting peppers, I like this way, it requires less diligence and results in a tender sweetness, even with the hot peppers.

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit,
2. Place the pepper on a sheet pan and position them in the middle of the oven, 
3. Bake for an hour, checking every 15 minutes of so and rolling them over so a different side touches the pan.
4. Roast them until they looked wilted, soft, collapsed with the skin pulling away from the flesh, they don’t have to be blacked or even browned.
5. Place the peppers in a large bowl and cover it tightly with plastic wrap for about 15 minutes, if plastic wrap alludes you, you can put them in a paper or plastic bag—just make sure it closes tightly. We want steam to build up and get under the skin so it’s easy to peel off.
6. Unwrap the bowl, place the peppers on a cutting board and slice them on one side. Open the peppers to pull the stems off or cut them away, remove all the seeds and ribs and cut them in to strips.

Chef Ali's Peanut Noodles with Asian Slaw

Chinese Cabbage

Long, pale and frilly Chinese cabbage is mainstay throughout Asia. Left raw it adds crunch to a salad or slaw, sautéed it adds texture to a stir fry and slowly braised it soaks up flavors becoming a beautiful vehicle for flavor. Here are 3 recipes one for each incarnation.

Peanut Noodles with Asian Slaw

I LOVE this dish for a potluck it can be served warm, room temperature or cold straight from the fridge (actually it’s a fabulous thing to find in your fridge when rummaging through looking for a midnight snack). If you have a peanut sensitivity substitute tahini for the peanut butter, and toasted sesame seeds for the peanuts. This works well with many types of pasta from soba noodles to rice noodles to angel hair, it is especially fantastic with fresh Chinese egg noodles if you can find them.

Asian Slaw

This slaw can hold its own as side dish with sticky ribs, teriyaki salmon or shrimp, on top of any sort of fish especially tuna or pan fried haddock. It makes a terrific addition to sandwiches and a fun refresher with sriracha spiced chicken wings. It works well with anything spicy, sticky or fatty.

Ingredients

• 3 cups Chinese Cabbage, sliced into thin ribbons (julienne)
• cup red bell or horn pepper, sliced into thin ribbons, ribs and seeds removed
• 2 scallions sliced thinly
• ½ cup grated carrot
• 1 whole Asian pear cut into matchsticks (sub apple or jicama if there is no Asian pear available)
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. neutral oil (vegetable, canola or grapeseed or peanut)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Juice & zest from 1 lime
• 1 cup cilantro leaves

Recipe:

1. Place the cabbage in a large bowl
2. ix together salt, ginger and sugar
3. Rub the salt/sugar mixture into the cabbage and let sit about 10 minutes
4. Add remaining vegetables
5. Whisk together the oils, lime juice & vinegar
6. Let sit at least 15 more minutes or overnight
7. Toss cilantro leaves in right before serving

Other things you can add: Slivers of ripe mango, slivered of under-ripe mango or papaya, julienned daikon radish, julienned jicama, julienned broccoli stems, Thai basil leaves, fresh mint leaves, bean sprouts, pea shoots or slivered snow peas (raw or blanched)

Peanut Sauce

• 1 small clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp. minced or grated fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp. dark soy or tamari
• ½ cup peanut butter
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes

1. Put everything in a blender or food processor and blend until creamy
2. aste and adjust seasoning to your liking, you may like it saltier or sweeter or find you like more acid or spice

Putting the dish together

• 1 pound noodles of choice
• ½ cup chopped salted roasted peanuts or toasted sesame seeds

1. Boil the noodles in salted water according to package instructions
2. Before draining the noodles set aside ½ cup of the pasta water
3. Drain noodles and set aside in large bowl
4. Whisk reserved hot noodle water in to the peanut sauce
5. Add sauce to noodles and using tongs gently turn the noodles in the sauce about 20 times until all the noodles are covered in sauce
6. op with slaw and peanut right before serving.

You can make this a more substantial meal by adding cooked shredded chicken or some bits of firm tofu or cooked shrimp, pork or beef.