Oh! The Veggies I've Seen

Today a lot of produce went through the Bee Heaven Farm Packing Facility. Lots of greens went into the share boxes: escarole, spinach, and lettuce, among others. We were packing grape tomatoes as well, and 8 oz. of honey. And, the interesting canistel, a tropical fruit in the sapote family which is yellow on the outside, starchy like a hard-boiled egg yolk on the inside, and tastes something like pumpkin pie.

Lots of good food goes through here, that's for sure. I pulled out for us a fennel, which I'm not sure yet what to do with. And a giant celery, which I'm sure will find a great destiny. What I need is some white beans, to make a soup with escarole or endive (or both).

Some things I never had before coming to South Florida:
Fennel
Canistel
Collard Greens
Garlic Chives
Mustard Greens,
Asian Greens: Hon Tsai Tai, Pei Tsai, Yukina, etc
Oyster Mushrooms
Asian radishes: Daikon and Red Meat
Escarole and Endive
Mizuna
Black sapote
Fresh sage
Red Kale
Black Kale
Purple Carrots
Heirloom beans: Fortex, Dragon's Tongue, Gold of Bacau

When did you last cook something you've never cooked before? I'm reading a book by a fellow named Capon: "Supper of the Lamb." (This book was sent to me by Kirby, with whom I share a similar taste in everything, except vegetables.) Capon's book is only continuing my development as a cook without recipes. He says to play, to add your own touch to everything, to experiment with all the ways things can happen in the world. That the world of food is as diverse and interesting as creation itself, and should be an interaction with and a celebration of it. Reading Capon makes me feel like a student of God before a board, a knife, and my cast-iron pot. I don't know what will happen for sure, but it will never taste like the last thing, or anything yet to come.

So all these veggies? I need to make some stir-fry, some braised celery, or some soup. And now that none of the current residents are vegetarians, we may be buying some meat and I'll be playing with that too. And the best thing to go with it all will be wine, defined by Capon as "Water in Excelsis."