Fairwinds Farm of Bowdoinham came to the Brunswick Farmers’ Market recently with asparagus crowns and strawberry plugs in tow. These crowns (dormant plants that resemble a sea creature with roots for tentacles and a head in the middle from where the spears will eventually sprout) and plugs (small plants with their roots entwined in a bit of soil for easy planting) were on offer more out of Yankee sensibility than any green eating tenet. The farmers had simply run out of room on the farm to plant them and thought someone else could use them, the woman working the cash box explained.
I didn’t buy either, but I bring them up to make a point. A lot of weird and wonderful things are on offer at early outdoor markets in Maine.
KALE (OR MUSTARD GREEN) RABE AND POTATO TART
The only real rabe is broccoli rabe. Called rapini in Italy, all of this green cruciferous vegetable’s parts – leaves, buds (which resemble tiny broccoli spears), and stems – are edible. Deliciously so. Recently, enterprising farmers have begun marketing other members of the brassica family (like spicy mustard greens and kale) with the same surname.
After these plants have produced leafy greens in high tunnels all winter long, the warmer weather forces them to start to go to seed. These bolted plants resemble rabe. The flavor is like a more bitter kale or spicy mustard greens, so blanch them in salted, boiling water before sautéing. Then eat them out of the pan or in a tart like this one. If rabe is not on offer, try this recipe with any other hearty leafy green in equal measure.
Serves 6 to 8
1½ pounds potatoes, scrubbed and sliced in 1/8-inch rounds
1 bunch (about 3/4-pound) kale or spicy mustard “rabe”
Kosher salt
1 yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ to 1 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup cream
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
Dough for 1 savory pie crust
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the potatoes in cold, salted water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer the potatoes until they are fork tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes from the water and spread them out on a towel to dry.
Turn the heat to high and bring the water back to a rolling boil. Remove and compost the very tough ends of the kale or mustard rabe. Roughly chop it and blanch it in the boiling water until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, and then drain. Submerge the kale in a bowl of cold water, drain again, and squeeze out any excess water.
In a medium-sized skillet, sauté the onions in olive oil over medium heat until translucent, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and chili pepper flakes and sauté 1 minute longer. Add kale and 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir.
Roll out the pie crust and fit it into a 10-inch tart pan. (You can use a 9- or 11-inch pan, but baking time will be 5 minutes more or less, respectively.)
Combine the vegetable mixture with the eggs, cream, and half of the cheese.
Arrange half the potatoes in a single layer over the crust. Sprinkle the potatoes with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Spread three-quarters of the kale rabe mixture over the potatoes. Arrange the other half of the potatoes over the kale.
Sprinkle the potatoes with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Spread the remaining kale rabe mixture over the second layer of potatoes and sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top of that.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the tart is golden brown.
Let it cool slightly before attempting to cut the tart. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Enterprising farmers present shoppers with overwintered items that got sweeter as they aged (spring parsnips that spent the winter months underground and, in doing so, metabolized some of their starch to sugar) or more interesting as they evolve (purple puffball chive flowers and the kale and spicy mustard green “rabe” Six River Farm sells after the plants they’ve grown all winter in high tunnels bolt and produce leggy flowers). They offer possibly new-to-you perennial herbs (like sorrel, lovage, lemon catnip) or present items foraged from the edges of fields (like the young nettle leaves Whatley Farm had bagged up for sale.)
Selling these out-of-the-ordinary items helps farmers bulk up their stands with offerings different from the hothouse greens and cellared root vegetables we’ve been blessed with (but maybe, too, grown a bit bored with) all winter long. And they help bridge the financial gap farmers experience between planting summer crops and reaping the income they will bring come July.
Nothing speaks to sustainable food production more noisily than putting your money where your mouth is to support the local farming community.
Market shoppers, be they old-fashioned cooks or trendy ones, snatch up the ramps and fiddleheads, the asparagus spears and rhubarb stalks. But the odder-ball offerings are many times left on vendor tables at the closing bell.
The farmers I spoke with tell me there is no exact scientific or economic formula for the out-of-the ordinary items they bring to market in early spring. “It’s more a conversation about all the things we’d like to try and then coming back to reality in terms of what we’ve got time and space to grow,” Ailish Kress of Whatley Farm said.
Consider bringing a bag, bunch or bundle of the weird and wonderful items home with you. It helps the farmer, and you might even enjoy the experimentation. If you get stuck in the kitchen with any of these extraordinary local food items, drop me a line. I’m happy to help.
Christine Burns Rudalevige is a food writer, a recipe developer and tester, and a cooking teacher in Brunswick. Contact her at: cburn1227@gmail.com.
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