fall CSA, week 6 (and final)

[cellio]

• Turk's turban squash (I'm just copying what the manifest called it...)
• 5 Rome apples
• 6 potatoes
• 6 rainbow carrots
• 2 heads garlic
• large yellow onion
• tomatillo salsa
• whole spelt flour

Anticipated but not present: watermelon radish. (Drat! Those are nice, and I've never seen them at the grocery store.)

They suggest that Rome apples are best for cooking. I've been doing baked apples a lot; maybe I'll make a cobbler with these ones.

Does anybody have suggestions for breads using spelt? I am particularly interested in recipes that work in a bread machine and ones for quick breads (which I would make in the oven). The CSA linked to a recipe for a blueberry/lemon quick bread, which sounds interesting except that it calls for several ingredients I would not otherwise buy. If I were to try that one, what do flaxseed meal and coconut sugar contribute to the result (chemically, flavor, baking properties, etc) and what can I safely substitute for them?

This was the last week of the fall share. I was looking forward to the winter share; that's when I started last year and we got a lot of great produce, including several things that were new to me. I learned that radishes come in more than two varieties (red and daikon)! And the baby turnips were great, and I cooked with rutabagas for the first time! Alas, they cancelled the winter share this year for a combination of supply issues and low subscription volume. I've heard good things about Imperfect Produce but they don't serve my city; a (remote) coworker recently mentioned Misfits, which apparently does, so I might give that a try. But for the locals, I'm also interested in hearing where I might shop for local produce, particularly things that Giant Eagle doesn't carry. Connect me with those radishes, parsnips, and baby turnips, please!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

For something like Misfit Produce - does Hungry Harvest deliver to your area? (I'm in Baltimore County, I believe it's centered in College Park, MD.)

[minoanmiss]

I am a terrible person but that blueberry spelt bread looks like a brick.

The recipe was written to avoid eggs and 'refined' sugar. The flaxseed and water goop is a stand in for eggs and the coconut sugar is a stand in for regular sugar. Sub in an egg and ordinary table sugar respectively.

[zare_k]

If I were to try that one, what do flaxseed meal and coconut sugar contribute to the result

I'll be honest, that spelt blueberry bread recipe sounds awful. IIRC, for quick-bread baking spelt flour acts more or less like whole wheat flour. Coconut sugar has a slightly caramelized flavor a little like brown sugar, without a pronounced coconut taste. The additional flavor complexity can enhance some recipes and it's not as purely sweet as white table sugar—I've used it in brownies before and I can see it working in a blueberry bread. You can just substitute regular white sugar.

[cellio]

I think, based on what you and minoanmiss said, that I should not consider this recipe further. Thank you!

Thanks for the tips on baking with spelt. I'd like to find a bread recipe that uses it (or, really, anything non-dessert), so knowing that it's similar to whole wheat helps.