winter CSA, week 6

[cellio]

• two bunches hydroponic lettuce
• one bunch Rosie Asian greens
• six Rome apples
• three rutabagas (two bigger than my fist)
• one watermelon radish
• seven shallots
• thirteen baby turnips (are these baby scarlet? that seems the least-unlikely among the varieties they list as possibilities)
• four red potatoes
• two heads garlic
• dozen "pastured" eggs
• jar of, nominally, chopped tomatoes, though it looks more like puree to me
• 8oz jar Japanese knotweed honey

The eggs came with this note: "since these are washed, you'll want to store in the fridge". This raises two questions. First, washed? Second, when wouldn't I store raw eggs in the fridge? I always do, so this note puzzles me.

One of their suggestions for the radish is roasting. I've never roasted radishes, so I might give that a try (though some of it will almost certainly go into salad). The jar of tomato stuff will probably end up in a soup or stew. Most of the roots are good for roasting, though I'll try to broaden my horizons there. (Potatoes aren't the only thing that can be a gratin; turnips work too, I'm told.)

They note that the honey is good for tea. That's handy, as we like tea and, just last night, were noticing that the current jar is nearly empty. (Knotweed?) The hechsher (kosher certification) is one I hadn't seen before, Earth Kosher. ("K" on a globe.)

Comments

[julian]

a) I frequently leave my eggs out.

b) On the washed thing -- https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/09/11/336330502/why-the-u-s-chills-its-eggs-and-most-of-the-world-doesnt

[cellio]

Wow, thanks for that link. I had no idea!

[julian]

Yeah, I wasn't aware of the specific reason why Americans are urged to keep their eggs in the fridge, either. The Things One Learns.

[conuly]

The eggs came with this note: "since these are washed, you'll want to store in the fridge". This raises two questions. First, washed? Second, when wouldn't I store raw eggs in the fridge? I always do, so this note puzzles me.

Birds only have one hole back there. Eggs in their natural state come out covered in shit. They also have a natural protective layer that keeps them from rotting fast at room temperature.

In America - but not, say, Europe - eggs are habitually washed for sale. This removes the dirt, but it also removes the protective layer and makes it unsafe to keep eggs out on a shelf. If the eggs are unwashed they are safe to leave out, and often it is considered safer to leave them out because moving them from refrigeration and then back out again can cause condensation to develop which is extremely likely to encourage rot.

[cellio]

Thanks. I hadn't considered the effects of taking them in and out. (Fortunately, I rarely take the carton out for long; if a recipe calls for eggs at room temperature I take out just the number I need.)

It's odd that we Americans are willing to wash our produce -- which, for root veggies at least, have also been sitting in some amount of shit -- but we expect our eggs to come already washed. I've never seen unwashed eggs to the best of my knowledge, so I don't know how much we're talking about, but washing an egg before cracking it into a pan or bowl doesn't sound like a big deal. I guess somebody's worried that some people won't wash them, get salmonella, and sue?

[conuly]

The shit our root veggies sit in looks like dirt. The shit that comes out with eggs looks like bird droppings, because, well....

[minoanmiss]

You already got an eggsplanation, so, all I can say is that's a lot of rutabaga.

[cellio]

It's more rutabaga than I was expecting, yes. I was guessing there'd be two, like last time (and these are bigger than the ones from last time). But it's ok; I have ways to use them.

[magid]

Those look like scarlet turnips to me.

Also, I'm a bit surprised to hear that there's knotweed honey, since around here, Japanese knotweed is an invasive species.

[cellio]

Maybe the knotweed invaded and they decided to make the best of the situation? I have no idea; I don't think I'd heard of knotweed before this honey.

We haven't opened it yet, so I don't know yet what it tastes like.

Thanks for the turnip identification. I would have called these pink rather than scarlet, but they're definitely not the white, purple, or golden ones, which left only "baby gil feather" (whatever that is).

[magid]

Gilfeather turnips are rather closer to rutabagas in looks than to scarlet turnips, actually.