By Alyssa
Sometimes, things don’t go to plan. We all know this; we all experience this. As you can imagine, it happens often on the farm. Be it the weather, the soil, or the living things we work with, we have learned to adapt, hopefully with ease and grace, to whatever is thrown our way. But once in a while, something happens that we've never considered or planned for, and we have to pivot hard.
Two weekends ago, at some point between Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, the freshly filled olive oil keg in the CSA barn was left open, and it all spilled out all over the floor. Likely it was left open when it was so cold that the olive oil had solidified; then as the day warmed, it began to spill. Certainly, it was an accident. Regardless, we had one heck of a mess to clean up Monday morning!
In an attempt to make lemons out of lemonade, we decided our poor, parched, well-used wood floor could use a refinishing. With push brooms and rags, and bolstered by a seasonal Spotify playlist, Geena and I pushed olive oil into every nook and cranny we could, then swept up the excess. We followed that up with four bags of kiln-dried diatomaceous earth (an oil absorber that is safe for use in food facilities) in a thin layer across the whole floor… and then after another trip to the store, sprinkled another four bags out, too.
We let it sit for a couple hours. In an ideal world, using something other than organic olive oil, we would have brushed very thin layers onto the wood one at a time, letting each soak in before wiping away the excess with a rag – not unlike seasoning a cast iron skillet, but without the application of heat. Since the oil was all dumped in one go and we didn’t have near enough rags to soak the excess up, we were hoping that the oil absorber would serve a similar purpose, leaving us with a surface that was neither slippery nor tacky.
I spent the next four hours sweeping away the oil absorber and wiping the remaining dust and residue with a rag, and by 6:15pm that Monday night, our barn floor had only a few specks of diatomaceous earth to be seen, and the wood looked rich and beautiful.
We successfully made lemons out of lemonade this time, but in an effort to prevent another expensive floor refinishing, we have posted a diagram of the spigot’s open and closed positions on the keg. Even if no oil comes out, please always assume there is oil in the keg and keep the spigot in the CLOSED position!
For the oil spigot to be CLOSED, the handle should point DOWN toward the table.
For the oil spigot to be OPEN, the handle should point OUT toward you.
On the weekends, you may find the spigot itself rotated upside-down to help safeguard against any future leaks. If you decide to refill your oil on a non-CSA day, please return the spigot to that position.
While the barn floor gets used to its new finish, you may find wet areas of the barn and wash station floors to be unexpectedly slippery. We have scrubbed the wash station floor and will be keeping towels in the barn to wipe up any water spills, but please watch your step for a little while longer in case we missed any spots. Thank you!
CSA barn hours:
Winter: 2:30-6 pm (starts THIS WEEK, always the week after daylight savings in November)
Summer: 2:30-6:30 pm (starts the week after daylight savings in March)
Pick List:
Eggs
Red Gold, Yellow Finn, and La Ratte Fingerling Potatoes
Ailsa Sweet, Shallots, and Monastrell Red Onions
Leeks
Rhonda Beets
Yaya Carrots
Joan Rutabaga
Hablange Parsnips
Mars Celeriac
Purple Top Turnips
Bora King Daikon and Watermelon Radish
Calypso Celery
Song Cauliflower and/or Gypsy Broccoli
Primo and Caraflex Green Cabbage, Ruby King Red Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts
Kossack Kohlrabi
Escarole, Rosalba, and Sugarloaf
Bopak Pac Choy
Lacinato Kale
Ruby Red Chard
Lettuce
Spaghetti, Butternut, Candystick Delicata, Tuffy Acorn, Tetsukabota Winter Squash, and Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin
Sonora wheat flour and wheat berries
Herbal Tea Blends and Whole Dried Chile peppers (Please bring your own jars!)
Pick your own flowers and herbs
Saltonstall Olive Oil (Please bring your own jars!)
French Onion Panade
Based off the recipe by Samin Nosrat in the NY Times.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019167-french-onion-panade
This is an excellent way to use up our enormous yellow onions! Any time I caramelize onions, I make extra to freeze for future uses. To make a smaller serving size like I do, halve this recipe and make it in a loaf pan. The croutons and onions can be made in advance.
1 loaf stale bread cut into 1" square croutons
8 Tbsp butter, divided
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 lbs yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 liquid to deglaze (wine, broth, water)
5-6 cups any kind of stock
about 3 cups grated melting cheese like gruyere or jack
about 1 cup grated parmesan
salt and pepper
Bake croutons in a 325 degree oven until nicely toasty (15-30 min).
To caramelize the onions: Set a large pot over medium heat with 4 Tbsp butter and the olive oil. When the butter melts, add the onions and salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes. Once they release a lot of liquid, remove the lid and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for another 30 minutes or so, until the onions are tender and dark golden brown. Turn off the heat and deglaze with vinegar and wine; add salt and vinegar to taste.
Warm the stock, and season to taste.
To assemble the panade, place 1/3 of the croutons in a 9x13 or other large baking dish. Top with half the onions and 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Season with pepper. Repeat once. Add the last 1/3 of the croutons on top, and pour in the stock, being careful not to overfill. Bake for 30 min at 425, then add the last 1/3 of the cheese and bake again for about 15 minutes until golden brown.