Recipe Sunday: Talitha’s Spinach and Feta Pasta

Our workweek ends late afternoon Sunday after many days of farmer’s markets in the row.  We are exhausted at that point but still need to eat.

One of our favorite quick meals involves pasta, whatever vegetables are in season in market and our Moodna feta cheese.

Of course, you can switch up the vegetables, the pasta and the cheese depending upon what you have as well as add fresh herbs from your herb garden.

This week we had mushrooms and Bialas Farms green garlic and spinach from the Ringwood Farmer’s Market so we made spinach and feta pasta, a fabulous combination!

Ingredients:

1 pound of package of penne pasta

2 Tablespoons olive oil

One plant of green garlic slice in thin rounds through green tops

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

2 cups of spinach leaves packed

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pinch red pepper flakes

¼ pound package of Moodna feta, crumbled by hand

Directions:

1. Bring large pot of lightly salted water to boil.  Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and sauté until cooked.  Mix in mushrooms and spinach.  Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Cook about two minutes until spinach wilted.  Reduce heat, add pasta and feta and stir and cook until heated through.  Serve immediately.

Farm Foto Friday April 26, 2013

 

A Friday morning ritual. A series of photographs and brief descriptions that capture the farm at that moment in time.

Where to Find Us March 15th to 18th

It’s going to be a busy weekend!

You can pick up your cheese at these Farmer’s Markets:

Talitha will be bringing cheese to Ringwood Farmer’s Market on Saturday from 10 am to noon.

Gabe will be at the Cornwall Winter Farmer’s Market on Saturday from  11 am to 3 pm at St. John’s Church located at 66 Clinton St.

Daniel will be at the Beacon Winter Farmer’s Market on Sunday from 11 am to 3 pm.

Can’t make it to the market?

You can find our cheese here:

Blooming Hill Farm will have Canterbury chevre and Moodna feta.

DeCicco’s Family Markets Cornwall carries all of our cheeses.

Need a baby goat fix?

We have tours Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday at both 10 am and 2 pm.  Make your reservations soon because they fill up fast!

Saturday Barn Report February 9, 2013

Having my second cup of coffee, after a dog walk in the deep snow, and before heading up to milk.  The Nemo blizzard dumped a little over a foot and roads are currently impassable so my milk maids can’t make it to the farm.  I am looking forward to my time alone with the milking ladies.

The snow is over Ruby’s head and she struggled through it as if swimming.  Part of the way, Honey broke the path for her, part of the way I carried her.  The bigger dogs bound through the snow with great joy.

So here we are February already and in the full swing of things.

We have 34 does in lactation and between 6 and 10 still to kid, depending upon who took and who didn’t.  We have eight “keepers”, seven doelings and Eli.  We have the two preemies, Sterling and Bernard, who are thriving and who we have dehorned and will castrate and find them an adoptive pet home.  We have four new babies that will head to Aden Brook Farm.  Cara has been a fantastic farm intern!

The ladies are producing enough milk so we are already making a full vat of cheese daily as well as selling lots of raw milk. Our faithful  milk maids, Rachel and Margaret, have been milking morning and evening and tending to the milk customers.  Dan and I have been experimenting with some fun new cheeses, a Newburgh Brewing Company brown ale washed tome and our own version of Drunken Goat that we think we will call Toasted Goat.  We have also been making vats of chevre, feta and bloomy rinds.  The first batch of bloomy rinds, our Firthcliffe, Aleck Meadow and Idlewild,  are almost fully bloomed and will go into the cave to ripen for the next week or so.   We find ourselves at the winter farmer’s markets in Cornwall, Beacon and Ringwood, NJ with the help of Daniel and Gabe.

Farm Tours started last weekend and were a great success!  The snow cancelled yesterday and today’s tour but Sunday’s tours look good and are fully booked.  Cara does the guided tours through the farm and Dan and I do the tastings in the viewing room and answer questions.  We’ve enjoyed getting to know many of our farmer’s market customers!  Tours continue through the end of April.

Tomorrow Dan is taking Rachel, our milk maid, and little Dor’ss the baby goat to the last Bialas Farms’ Mini-Market and bringing cheese and chocolate chvre truffles.  I can’t wait for the Bialas Farms veggies!  If you happen to go, make sure to wish Dan a very happy birthday.

Yesterday I made more truffles than I could count for Valentine’s Day treats.  I plan to make more this afternoon.  We’ll have them for sale at the markets and at the farm.

Did you see yesterday’s Cornwall Local?  Fun article about the goats eating Christmas trees.  We greatly appreciate DPW delivering to our door all the trees.  The goats have been eating about ten a day!

The chickens are not going to be happy with all this snow so we will likely spread some of the leaf bags we saved for them to romp around in.  I started thinking about what chicks I am going to order this year.  The ducks have started laying again.  Spring is just around the corner!  Things we are looking forward to: maple syruping, starting indoor seedlings, piglets, bees, spring and summer farmer’s markets!

Farm Foto Friday February 8, 2013:The Calm Before the Storm

A Friday morning ritual. A series of photographs and brief descriptions that capture the farm at that moment in time.

Drunken Goat

Have you ever heard of the cheese “Drunken Goat”?

Murcian cheesemakers invented this cheese in 1986 in an attempt to create a distinct regional cheese with big commercial potential. The cheesemakers took a traditional local goat cheese and bathed it in the local Doble Pasta red wine for 3 days. The result was an unqualified success both commercially and gastronomically and has brought attention and capital to that region. Aged for roughly 75 days, this semisoft cheese has a sweet, smooth flavor. The rind has an attractive violet color.  We purchased a wedge from Adams in 2010 ago when we tasting all the artisan cheeses selling in the local stores.  Last year some of the staff at Cornwall Wines encouraged us to make it.

Well, today we did and in about two months, we’ll taste it and see how it came out.  Maybe we’ll have a tasting at Cornwall Wines and pair it with some nice red wines?

Here is the goat cheese and wine before soaking.

Here is each cheese in a ziplock bag surrounded by the wine bath.

We will flip each one as many times as we can over the next 24 hours.  Each cheese comes out to dry for 24 hours and then goes back into the wine bath for 48 hours and then out to dry for 24 hours.  Then we will vacuum pack and age the cheeses for four to six weeks in our bloomy rind “cave” which is set at 50 degrees.

Chris at Cornwall Wines suggested we call it “Buzzed Goat.”  What do you think?

Farm Tours at Edgwick Farm – February 1st to April 29th

Edgwick Farm now offers educational tours of our farm, micro-dairy and creamery.  Our farm provides a unique learning experience for families to see firsthand where their food comes from.

Meet the milking ladies in the hoop house who provide us milk twice a day.  Greet the bucks and Bianci the donkey through the fence.  Cuddle with one of the adorable baby goats.  You might even catch a live birth if you get lucky!  Watch the cheese makers in action.  As spring approaches, you might meet chicks and ducklings.

Tours last for approximately 1 to 1 ½ hours, and will include a guided tour of the farm and dairy.  Guests will view the cheese make room, the milking parlor, and have hands on time with the goats in the hoop house. We also include a tasting of some of our wonderful products – both cheese and goat milk.  (Cheese and goat milk will be available for purchase to take home.)

The tours are only offered from February to April and are by RESERVATION ONLY.  The cost of the tours is $5 per person (both children and adults).  Tours are offered Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 10 am and 2 pm.  Each tour is limited to ten people.  (Larger school or club groups will be scheduled at special times.)

Tours are conducted RAIN OR SHINE.  Please be prepared to walk around the farm in cold weather; comfortable closed-toed shoes are advised.  If you need to cancel, you can let us know 48 hours prior to your scheduled tour time without incurring a fee.  Please do not bring your dog as it would frighten the goats.

To make a reservation and book a tour, contact Talitha.  Call her at (845) 401-2301 or e-mail at edgwickfarm@gmail.com.  We will send you a confirmation e-mail with a paper ticket to be printed out.  Payment is expected upon your arrival.

FEBRUARY 2ND at 2 PM is FULLY RESERVED.

FEBRUARY 3rd at 10 AM and 2 PM is FULLY RESERVED.

Snowy day! Farinata Soup!

A heavy wet snow fell over night, about four inches altogether.  Dan ended up plowing for four hours with the tractor!  I shoveled out below at the farm house.  Cara shoveled out her cottage and above  at the hoop house and buck shed.  This didn’t take us very long.

While I waited for Dan to finish plowing, I puttered around the house, cleaning, putting things away, thinking, not thinking and spacing out, starting the fire and deciding I should cook something  with stick to your ribs warmth for Dan when he came back inside.  I knew he’d be cold from sitting on the tractor in the alternating snow and rain.

I adapted a farinata recipe from Margaret Roach, adding Italian sausage and using what I had in the fridge.  You can find her recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb Italian sausage
• 4 cloves chopped garlic (I used Bialas Farms garlic, the best you can get)
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 lb kale or cabbage or mix (I used Bialas Farms cabbage because I had it.  For a prettier soup with more contrasting color, kale would be better.  Bialas also has superb kale, I just didn’t have any today)
• 6 cups broth (I used part chicken and part water because I had an open box of broth in the fridge equaling 4 cups so I added 2 cups water to that)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup polenta (cornmeal) (I used Brooklyn Bean‘s killer polenta…yum!)
• 1/2 cup grated hard cheese (I used some of my stash of 3 year old raw milk hard goat cheese that I had made before we were licensed)

Steps

Break up and cook the sausage well.  Scoop out with slotted spoon reserving the fat in the pan and set aside.  Add olive oil and saute garlic and greens until wilted.  Add broth and salt and cooked sausage and bring to a simmer until greens are tender.  Gradually stir in polenta and cook on simmer until creamy, about ten minutes.  Fold in grated cheese.  Serve immediately.

Recipe Sunday ( a day late): Chocolate Chevre Truffles

We hope that all of our customers who purchased our simple Edgwick Farm chocolate chevre truffles for this holiday season enjoy their rich flavor and taste.  They are really simple to make and if you freeze some of our beautiful summer chevre in the coming market season, you too can make some for the holiday season in 2013.  Think ahead.

Chocolate Chevre Truffles

Ingredients:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

8 ounces chevre (white spreadable mild goat cheese), at room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cooking cocoa powder (or sifted or shaved chocolate or finely chopped nuts or anything that strikes your fancy as a coating)

Directions:

In the top of a double boiler, or in a metal bowl set or the top of a simmering water (make sure the water does not touch the bowl), melt the chocolate, stirring until it is smooth.  Set aside the melted chocolate to cool for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a bowl, whisk together the goat cheese, sugar and vanilla until it is light and fluffy.  Whisk it into the melted chocolate until it is well combined.  Cover and chill until it is easy to work with but not too cold and hard.  To form truffles, take a heaping teaspoon of the mixture and lightly roll it into a ball with your gloved hands (it is messy).  Roll the finished truffles in the sifted cocoa powder (or your other coating creation) and chill until they are firm, about 30 minutes.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or freeze for later use.

Other flavors can be added to this by simply using a different flavor extract or an infused chocolate.  It is very easy to be creative with these ingredients.

Where to Find Us: Week of September 11th to September 16th 2012

You can purchase all of our cheese at these Farmer’s Markets:

Tuesday:Florida(NY) Farmer’s Market   11:30 am to 5:30 pm

Wednesday: Cornwall Farmer’s Market   11:30 am to 5:30 pm

Friday: Goshen Farmer’s Market   10 am to 5 pm

Saturday: Ringwood, NJ Farmer’s Market  9 am to 1 pm

Sunday: New Amsterdam Market  11 am to 4 pm

Guy finally replaced his cooler so you can find a limited selection of our cheeses at Blooming Hill Farm every weekend:  Canterbury chevre, Moodna feta and Sackett Ridge cheddar.

A special event is coming up at Painter’s.  Get your tickets for “Painter’s Pairs with Edgwick Farm” a special wine and cheese tasting on September 27 from 5 to 7 pm.  Tickets are $19 and available at the Edgwick Farm market table or at Painters.  Chef Michael is preparing seven unique appetizers using Edgwick Farm cheeses and each appetizer is paired with a special wine tasting.  Dan and Talitha, the Edgwick Farm cheesemakers will be on hand to discuss the cheeses and their creamery and farm.

Raw milk is available for sale at the farm only in the creamery during MORNING milking hours, 7 to 9 am.  Depending upon availability, eggs and cheese can be purchased at same time.  Please note it is always good to call ahead to check milk, cheese and egg availability.  Talk to Dan at 914-213-9513.  The goats will discontinue milking at the end of October.   There will be no raw milk in November and December.  Raw milk starts again in late January 2013.

Do you have a special order?  E-mail us at edgwickfarm@gmail.com and we will bring it to your market.  Or call Talitha at 845-401-2301 and pick it up at the farm.

Have a great week!  We look forward to seeing you.