It is week 2 of my CSA.  I love spring and early summer boxes, but like our home gardens, some of my favorites items just haven’t matured to the point where they’re ready to distribute.  Early onions, greens and other spring crops like Asparagus typically fill boxes this time of year.  Boxes are smaller, but quality makes up for the lack of quantity.  I long for a vine ripe tomato!  Patience, Patience, Patience….

Week 2 Box Contents:

A pint of cherries

A large bunch of Kale (yes, it is really kale this week)

A large head of lettuce

A small bunch of radishes

Asparagus

1 parsley plant

I’m thrilled to get radishes, and grateful for the parsley plant.  Thankfully, I planted Basil, Parsley, Cilantro and Rosemary on Mother’s Day weekend.  Those plants are mature enough to take clippings, so the CSA plants (though a very welcome addition) aren’t critically needed.  The cherries are little bites of heaven.  Sweet cherries, just off the tree are special and fairly rare. Cherries bought from the store, especially conventional cherries have been picked as much a two weeks prior to being sold.  They may taste good, but nothing like what came in this box.

This week I went back and forth on what to use.  I love GCF kale.  It comes in the spring and fall.  Fall is actually better, as Kale gets even sweeter as it easily survives a light frost.  I decided to wait on the kale recipe, and go with an old friend…Quiche.  Quiche sounds complex, and it does have a lot of steps.  Whether you make your own crust (making the job a little more difficult), or use store bought, is up to you.  My sister Nancy, would mock me for using store bought.  She is right (third time this year) homemade is better. But sometimes time constraints just don’t allow.  The crust recipe below can be made in advance and frozen.  It will keep for a few weeks in the freezer.

Quiche:

For the pie dough (makes 2 large crusts)

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon salt 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

¼ to ½ cup of ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt.  Add the cold butter all at once, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Try using the pulse feature, and limit the mixing time to 8 to 10 seconds.   This is important.  If you over process your dough will not be flaky.  The chunks of butter are what allows for the flakiness of your dough.

Turn the flour and butter mix into a large bowl.  Slowly add ice water and lightly mix to incorporate the liquid into the flour mixture.  Do this just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky. To test your dough, squeeze a small amount together. If it is too crumbly, add a little more ice water.

Divide your dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc about an indch thick, and wrap each disc in plastic. Refrigerate your dough for at least 1 hour.  This step is important.  It allows the butter to chill again, and lets the gluten in the four relax, helping the flakiness factor improve.

For the Quiche:

3 spring onions chopped into large pieces. 

1 small bunch of asparagus

2 T Butter

2 C grated Provolone Cheese

pepper

8 eggs

½ C sour cream

½ C milk

Constructing the Quiche:

On a floured surface, roll out you pie dough so that it is a large circle that is about an 1/8 th of an inch thick.  The dough should be big enough so that the edges overflow your pie pan by about an inch.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Carefully place your rolled pie dough into the pie pan, roll the edges of the dough, and crimp the edges so that the edge looks nice, and sits on the edge of your pie pan.  Put the formed crust in the preheated oven and bake until its just brown.   If you have a pie weight, use it.  If not, take a fork and prick the bottom of the crust.  This will help keep it from puffing up.

While the crust is baking, sauté the Spring Onions in the butter. Its ok if they brown a bit.  When the onions are almost done, add the asparagus and cook until it turns bright green. 

Once the filling is done, make your egg filling.  I like the more custard style in this recipe.  You can make yours more in almost any combination.  Start by adding an egg or two to the sour cream, whisk together.  Add an egg or two at a time so that the mix is smooth.  Once all of the eggs have been added to the sour cream, add the milk and mix.  Finish with a little bit of pepper.   If you change the order in this step, it will not ruin the quiche.  It may result in some lumps of sour cream.  The pie will still taste good, but may look a little funny.

To assemble the Quiche,

Place the pie pan on a cookie sheet.  That way if it spills or overflows, it spills on the cookie sheet and not your oven. Start by adding the veggie mix.  Top the veggies with the grated cheese.  Slowly add the egg mix until the pie is filled.   Its OK to have a little extra egg, its also ok if it is a little less full.  The finished pie is pretty forgiving.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the top has a nice light brown color.

Serve with a salad made from the lettuce from your box.