Hot Shots - July 21, 2023
Hot Shots - July 21, 2023
Severin R-B Danieli
Hello all,
Another sunny week come and gone! Local produce is stocking our shelves, and slow mornings and busy afternoons are the tell-tale sign of summertime here at Disco. About half of our local produce is picked up by our own drivers, and after their morning deliveries, they head out to all the local farms within the lower mainland and bring all the goodies back to us.
This past week we have had a windfall of local blueberries, and you know they're delicious when Disco staff themselves are taking home cases in 5# boxes. I had all the intentions of freezing them to use for smoothies, but they were all eaten within a day or two of getting home.
This weekend was filled with tennis, a stained glass workshop, and some family time. We are ready to rumble with our new place, and this weekend coming up we get the keys! Painting will commence, and then the week/weekend of moving is truly upon us.
Now, let's get to the produce!
Strawberries.
Pictured above is Stefan, our president and one of Disco's owners, his very sweet daughter, Aurora, and Esteban, the CEO and owner of JW Farms and his son Alexis who is the general manager. Stefan and his family visited the farm recently while they were down in California attending a conference.
Esteban Martinez heads this family run operation in Watsonville California, and boasts more than 30 years of experience in the organic agricultural field.
Strawberries are one of the star ingredients in one of my favourite summertime pies: strawberry rhubarb. They can be chopped up and topped with whip cream, strawberry shortcake, the dessert options are endless! JW has some of the juiciest and sweetest strawberries I've ever had, so grab a case on your next order and know you are supporting a wonderful family run farm.
Blueberries.
Picked fresh the day we collect them up from our local berry farmers, we have blueberries from Bergen Farms in Abbotsford, Myers Farm in Langley, Warkentin Farm also in Abbotsford and finally Formosa in Maple Ridge.
Many years ago, we attended a Polish wedding, and one of the dishes there were blueberry pierogis, made by the bride herself. Conveniently, Bergen Farms has a recipe for these that I will paste below:
Blueberry Pierogis:
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) milk
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup (125 ml) margarine, melted
4 cups (1000 ml) flour
2 tsp (10 ml) salt
Approx. 2 cups (500ml) blueberries
Mix first five ingredients together to form a soft dough. Roll out dough fairly thin and cut into circles. Place 3-4 blueberries in the center of each circle. Fold over and pinch edges together. Drop into boiling water and cook for 5-7 minutes. Serve warm with a little butter, sugar and cinnamon on top.
Makes about 3 dozen pierogis.
Formosa Nursery has been a family run business since 1977, Warkentin farm has been family owned and operated since 1989, and Myers has been a family run farm since 1995. Blueberries are clearly a family affair!
Fava beans.
These are some of the prettiest fava beans I have ever seen, and they are from one of our fav local farms; Snow Farms. Fava beans are also known as broad beans, and are added into many Mediterranean dishes. There is one I came across that is Egyptian inspired, and I will link the recipe here.
I know we are knee deep in summer, but I am sooo looking forward to colder weather, and the ability to comfortably turn on my stove and oven. I am really wanting to get into stews and curries and all sorts of warming dishes for the colder months.
You can use fava/broad beans either dry or fresh, or if you need further inspiration - here is a list of 20 fava bean recipes.
Happy cooking!
Crimini mushrooms.
My favourite pizza topping, a close contender with greek (feta, olives, tomatoes, peppers etc), is mushroom and pineapple. This was the go-to topping when my sister and I were growing up if we ever ordered pizza for a quick dinner. I still remember going to DJ's pizza on upper lonsdale, the tinkle of the bell when I opened the door, and the warm savoury aroma that hit you like a pizza oven brick when you stepped inside. Holding those warm cardboard pizza boxes in your arms as a kid on the drive home, now that is a core memory.
Aaanyways, mushrooms! We were recently at a friend's place for a pizza night, and one of the pizzas we made had sliced fresh pineapple and mushrooms on it. But, we went one step further. Before we added the mushrooms on the pizza, we sautéed them in butter, white wine, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Next. Level. Delicious.
We've got a lot of mushrooms here for you to pick from: crimini, white button, portabella, oyster and shiitake from Highline and Farmers Fresh. Take your pick and make a pizza tonight!
Cucumbers.
One of the more successful veggies I have grown, though not without blight issues on leaves (anyone have tips for that?), are cucumbers. On hot summer days, I picked a few cukes off the vines, cooled them down in the fridge, sliced them, sprinkled with salt, and sprayed with lemon juice. So fresh, so refreshing, and about as local as you can get.
We've got a few options for cucumbers here at Disco currently, they include:
- Long english cukes from Origin O (BC)
- Field cukes 36/42ct from Grown True (MX)
- Field cukes 20# from Secrest (BC) - pictured above
- Field cukes 40/45# from Divine (MX)
- Persian cukes mini bags 12x1# from Longview (BC)
- Pickling/dill cukes 20# from Secrest (BC)
Staff Highlight!
Here she is folks: Karda! She is back in action in sales! Also, she is my sister so this staff highlight is definitely going to be tinged with bias...
Karda was on maternity leave for the past year and a half and has been a busy mom with her sweet boy Gabriel. She is excited to be back and talking to real adult humans for a few days a week.
For her produce highlight, she chose the mysterious jicama. Her favourite ways to prepare it are eating it raw with some lime juice and salt (peel off the outer skin first of course), or shredding it very fine along with carrots and unripe mango and tossing it with some fresh lime juice, salt and chopped cilantro. A perfect summer dish!
For good measure, here is a list of Gabe's favourite fruit & vegetable so far:
- cucumbers (mini persian cukes especially, such a fancy boy)
- blueberries
Enjoy your weekend, I hope it is restful and you can stay cool.
We are full on moving and painting mode this weekend and upcoming week, so it will be productive but not restful for the coming days. I know moves are always a bit stressful, but we know we will be staying in this place for multiple years, which is a welcome thought as we recently counted how many moves we've done in the last five years and the tally reached seven. Within those seven moves, two were international when we lived in Italy.
Needless to say, we are excited to settle and stay put for years to come!
Thanks for reading along, I'll chat with you all soon.
Big love,
Severin R-B Danieli