My CSA share week #1 (last week, June 4) Photo from the Golden Earthworm Organic Farm (my CSA provider!)

I’m blogging for the newest Edible community– Edible Queens, set to launch its first paper issue September 2009. I have to admit I was feeling a little neglected. It’s about time there was an Edible community in my very own ‘hood, so I’m happy to be a part of it! I think the first issue is going to be fabulous and until then, you can read more online.

I have a weekly post about what I receive in my Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) box. I also include all the recipe ideas my heart can throw out for whatever the box contents are. So instead of just one recipe with one or two of the ingredients, I’ll list a few different ideas (with no promises I’m actually making any of them!).

The blog is called Astoria Feed.

One, because it’s about the food from the Astoria CSA, two, because it’s the feed I’ll be eating all week, and three, because it’s also a news feed of all of the above and more. You can follow the link: www.ediblecommunities.com/queens/view-by-tag/66/ to see more.

If you’re in a CSA, or ever thought of what the experience might be like, the blog will be a fun place to follow my adventures. If you’re in a CSA on the northeast (or even midwest) the blog will be fun to follow along with because you’ll probably receive many of the same items around the same time. If you’re in a CSA in the south or west coast I despise you for your extended growing seasons while you sit there practically eating watermelons this time of year because and you’ve seen this produce come through long ago (I know because I was in California two weeks ago eating local cherries like a banchy (re Urban Dictionary: A wild creature with snarly brown hair that is excessive in all its activities.). (As an aside, I’m not really sure why a banchy has to have snarly brown hair, but I suppose it fits.) Please note I have to wait another month for local cherries! If you’re not in a CSA, have been there/done that, can’t join, or won’t be joining, it’s still a fun place to follow along and if nothing else, maybe you’ll be inspired by some recipe ideas!

Here’s last week’s post as a sample of what you get if you read:

WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
1 bunch baby bok choi
1 bunch beets
1 bunch French breakfast radishes
1 bunch rhubarb
1 bunch Japanese white salad turnips
1 bag arugula -or- spinach
2 heads of lettuce  or 1 head of lettuce and 1 bag salad mix

I love the freshness of spring greens! Our shares this time of year are so plush. Part of the fun of a CSA is that you receive whatever is in season. It’s like Iron Chef– you don’t get to pick what you want. It’s sometimes a challenge to come up with interesting recipe ideas, but it’s worth it to try new items and vary your diet. One thing to remember is that while the above list of vegetables is what is posted as what we’ll receive at the beginning of the week, the list often changes depending on what comes in from the fields (sometimes creating a bigger challenge!). For example, in addition to the above, we also received strawberries in our share.

Here are my recipe thoughts for this week:

Rhubarb- We received strawberries too so strawberry rhubarb pie is a given. But I love making a simple syrup with the rhubarb and whipping up mixed drinks (with alcohol or not). Bourbon goes well with rhubarb, as does tequila, but rhubarb lemonade, or rhubarb-mint with seltzer is equally refreshing.

Lettuce, Turnips, Radish- We get large glorious heads of lettuce. Really, some of our members wait all year for the lettuce! My box contained 2 billowing heads of butter lettuce– one red, one green. Golden Earthworm’s Butter Lettuce is my favorite. The white salad turnips are also spectacular. So sweet raw! I’m thinking some fish wraps in lettuce with a chipotle mayonaise (mix some mayo with chipotle in adobo sauce) and top with slice turnips and radish. You can even add shredded beets on top. Other proteins like shrimp, beef or shredded chicken would be good too.

Beets- It’s still cool enough to wrap beets in foil and roast them until tender(about 45 minutes). Or… peel and shred raw beets. Toss with some lemon juice, goat cheese, pine nuts (walnuts, pistachio work too), salt/pepper and fresh herbs– mint, cilantro, parsley. Whatever is around, just pile it on.

Bok Choi- My favorite for the bok choi is a quick stir fry. I like to add beef or chicken marinated in OJ and soy sauce and cook it up. Once done, boil down the marinade, add some fresh orange zest and toss it as a sauce for an orange beef in bok choi. Serve over brown rice.

This post is featured on Sustainable Table as this month’s Adventure in Fermentation. Also, if you’re in the NYC region, don’t forget to sign up for my culinary walking tour through Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). More details and sign up can be found on the Institute for Culinary Education’s website (see walking tours: Astoria).Kombucha (Kam-boo-cha). Or as I like to call it, ‘booch.

Kombu-wha?

That was my reaction when I first heard about the sparkly slightly tangy beverage. My first encounter with kombucha caught me by surprise: I was dining on a take-out lunch of sushi and grabbed a bottle of what I thought to be ginger beer (actual contents: ginger flavored kombucha). One sip and bleh- vinegar!? My dining companion on the other hand, found the beverage refreshingly tangy and gulped it up.

That dining companion enjoyed the new drink so much that a lingering hankering stayed with him and he continued to purchase it. I continued to take a sip here and there and eventually I too was addicted to the stuff. At $4 a bottle, this was turning into an expensive addiction and I eventually learned I could brew my own for mere pennies.

So what is it?

Kombucha hails from China and has been brewed in the east for hundreds (thousands?) of years. Traditionally consumed as a tonic to cure digestive problems and to help the body heal many maladies, the tea-infused beverage spread in popularity eventually reaching our shores. Kombucha is brewed with what is called a SCOBY– Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast. Yum! Other people simply call it a mushroom. I think it looks a bit like a slimey sponge. The “it” (SCOBY, mushroom, sponge) is what you add to sugary tea to convert (or ferment) the sugar into acids. Some of these acids include (from Kombucha Exchange): glucuronic acid, glucon acid, lactic acid, vitamins, amino acids, antibiotic substances, and other products.

The SCOBY is alive, brewing a probiotic (good-bacteria) filled drink. The final resulting acids depend not only on your SCOBY culture, but also the natural bacteria alive in the air and your home. If you give the ‘booch a dosage of sugar at bottling (a la champagne) and stop it up for a few days in a warm place, you’ll have a lovely sparkling brew.

The flavor is slightly vinegary and tangy and many people I speak to say it is addictive. I’m not sure if it’s the result of how you feel after drinking it, or something inside, but I know I get severe hankerings for kombucha every once in a while. These grow especially strong if I read an article about bacteria, or stomach acids. For those who think the classic flavor too strong, you can purchase (or make) kombucha mixed with not only with tea or ginger, but fruit juices. In my home we tend to stick with matcha (green tea) powder and sometimes ginger added at bottling.

There are many health claims out there that kombucha is a cure all, believe what you want– aiding in not only digestion or stomach upset, but liver detoxification, sharper eye sight, clearer skin, increased metabolism, increased energy, a general tonic to keep flu and sickness away, and more. (I gave it to my 90 year old grandmother when she had a soar throat and she said she could “feel it working.” In two days her throat was clear.)

Here in NYC, kombucha is rapidly gaining in popularity. The most popular company selling the beverage is out of California and I’ve seen it on shelves from New York to California and even in Indianapolis. You can find “sleeper cells” of kombucha enthusiasts across the country– those looking to pass on the love of kombucha by giving away free SCOBYs (that’s right, why pay for something when you can get it for free!). See the Kombucha Exchange for more information on how to get a free SCOBY or just ask a few friends or health food store, I’m sure you’ll run into one sooner or later.

To make kombucha:

Brew black, green or oolong tea and transfer to an open-mouth jar (I use a 1 gallon mason jar, but you can use any size you like as long as you can get your hand in there). Dissolve sugar in the tea (1 quart of water gets 1/3 cup sugar) and cool to room temperature. DO NOT use honey or maple syrup, both of which contain their own active enzymes. Add a kombucha “Mother” (the more friendly term for the SCOBY). Cover the jar with a light towel or cheesecloth and place in a warm, dark place. The SCOBY eats the sugar, converting it into acid. Note: With every brew “babies” are created by the Mother which is how folks can easily spread the love of kombucha. In 7 to 14 days you can begin tasting your brew. Once the acid level reaches your liking, bottle it with 1 tablespoon sugar (if you want to dosage). Leave behind about 10% of the liquid from the last batch plus the SCOBY and brew again. After a few brews the Mother tends to build up some yeast (brown mucusy looking trails). It’s fine to keep, but I tend to throw the Mother out at this point and allow the babies to take over.

NOTE: If you brew your own and the smell is cheesy or meaty, rather than vinegary, toss your booch and get a new SCOBY! The wrong kinds of acids have taken over your brew and it can make you sick. Also, if you see any mold develop at the top, throw it out and get a new one. Contamination is rare, but it can happen.