Check out the goods in this week’s share!
Grapefruit Citrus
Eggs (half dozen)
Curly or Lacinato Kale
Lettuce Romaine or Red Leaf (NSOF)
Fuyu Persimmons
Roselle
Baby Squash Mix
Murasaki Sweet Potatoes
Green Tomatoes (WAT)
Week four of our fall season is extra special: it’s the return of Roselle Festival on Saturday, Oct 28. Here’s your chance to take a deep dive into the world of organic farming! Pick your own Roselle, tour the fields with Farmer John, sample and learn how to make recipes from our partner chefs, lose yourself in a crop maze, chill with live music, and shop at our farmers market… we’re so grateful to our team and partners for helping us produce this wonderful event!
So what’s the big deal about this plant? Why do we love it so much we created a festival? Let’s start with it’s kitchen magic. The calyx and flower are used for tea, jam, jelly, juice, wine, syrup, gelatin, pudding, cake, ice cream, flavoring, and coloring. The leaves are pretty awesome too- use them in salads for some extra zing or cook ‘em up in curries or dals. Bakers can substitute roselle for rhubarb when making a fruit crisp or pie. Roast the seeds, which are high in protein, and brew like coffee, or grind and add to soups and salads. If you search for recipes online, note that Roselle goes by a few other names depending on where you live: Florida cranberry, red sorrel, or Jamaica sorrel.
Why consume it? Um, where do we begin? How about health benefits? It’s a powerhouse of vitamins and packed with essential minerals like calcium, potassium, magnesium and iron. It’s high in fiber too and recommended in Ayurveda for a gut health. Each part of Roselle offers amazing benefits that range cleansing to cancer prevention. At the festival, you’ll learn more at our talk by Susan Marynowski, The Amazing Health Benefits of Roselle, at 5pm. You’ll leave filled with knowledge, and we hope, inspiration. Roselle Festival, sponsored by Visit Gainesville, is free and open to the public but does require reservations. Click here to add your name to the guest list!
Roselle Mochi Cake adapted from gastricurious.com
Ingredients
Hibiscus Syrup
2 cups fresh roselle calyxes, chopped
1½ cups water
1 cup sugar
Mochi Cake
1 lb box of Mochiko rice flour
2½ cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
½ cup butter melted
5 eggs
1 can coconut milk
Instructions
Hibiscus Syrup
- Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Strain through a mesh strainer to separate hibiscus solids from the syrup. Reserve both, and set aside.
Mochi Cake
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, eggs, and coconut milk in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Mix well.
- Stir in the candied hibiscus pieces and ½ cup of the reserved syrup (save the rest for another use).
- Pour into a lightly greased 9″x13″ pan. Bake at 375° F for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely before serving. Store leftovers in the fridge.
Fuyu Persimmon Bread
Ingredients:
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp real vanilla extract
3 cups fuyu persimmon pureed (a little over 1 1/2 lbs)
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp baking soda, sifted to make there aren’t lumps
1/4 tsp (generous pinch) of salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour *measured correctly
1 1/2 cups walnut pieces, toasted
Instructions:
Remove tops of persimmon with a butter knife. Cut into quarters and puree.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp vanilla. Mix in 3 cups persimmon puree and the melted butter.
Add 2 tsp of sifted baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt and 2 tsp cinnamon and whisk to combine. Whisk in 3 cups flour until blended.
Fold in 1 1/2 cups walnuts until evenly dispersed and divide the batter between buttered loaf pans. Bake for 45 – 50 min or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 min then turn out onto wire rack to cool to room temp.
Kale Salad Dressing
This dressing can be enjoyed with all salads, but the honey/vinegar ratio specifically helps balance kale’s bitter flavor.
Ingredients:
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup honey (use maple syrup for vegan)
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
A pinch of sea salt
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