Recipe and Photos by Isaac Winburne and Heydon Hatcher

This soup is FAMOUS! Isaac’s Famous Chicken Soup

Serves about 6 / Cooking time: 2 easy hours

This is one of the first recipes that Isaac made me. He’d been lauded often by friends as a great cook, and I had never seen it in action. So one Sunday about two years ago, we decided we were going to cook a good, comforting meal “together”. He popped his head into the fridge, took stock of pre-existing ingredients, and had immediately formulated a recipe. This cooking sensibility of how to make a delicious and casual meal without even peeking at a recipe evades me, so he obviously took and has taken the helm in all of our cooking escapades. He swept through the market eyeing one thing, checking firmness and smelling another, and, voila, he had all of the ingredients to make what we now call “Isaac’s Famous Chicken Soup”. 

There have been many, many versions of this with certain garnish and ingredients altering depending on what is available at the market stand, so keep your mind open when you read and digest this recipe. It's meant to be open to interpretation and feeling. If cilantro is out of season, grab some dill. If there aren’t jalapeños, use serranos. We used both kinds of hot peppers this past weekend because it felt right. This soup works as a wonderful weekend hangover cure with an exorbitant and detoxifying amount of spice. We like to sweat it out over here at our house. So be liberal with those hot peppers - summer is the season!

Amber ale and neon lights. Photo by Isaac Winburne and Heydon Hatcher.

-1 rotisserie chicken

-4 JBG onions

-2 to 3 JBG jalapeños and 1 JBG serrano (up to your spice whims)

-2 48 oz of Free Range Chicken Broth

-1 can of Austin Amber beer from Independence Brewery (or any Amber of your choice)

-10 medium to small sized JBG carrots

-5 medium to large JBG yellow squashes 

-5 medium to large JBG zucchini

-Handful of JBG cilantro

-A lime or two for garnish

Shred the chicken with ample chicken skin shreds to add fat and deliciousness, put aside for later. Put excess juice/chicken fat from the bottom of the rotisserie chicken container into the pot that you will use to cook. 

Extra flavor step: Put bones from rotisserie chicken into a smaller pot and pour some chicken broth into it. Put it on medium heat and have it cooking throughout the cooking process for extra flavorful zing. As the broth cooks down over the two hours, add more chicken broth as needed (usually 4 or 5 times/splashes).

Chop the onions into crescent moons and put into the soup pot - which has a base of rotisserie chicken fat already. Finely chop the hot peppers and add. Sprinkle a healthy amount of salt and pepper over the onion and pepper mix. Turn on the stove at low heat, and get this mixture to start “releasing flavor". Stir every now and then, and add more salt and pepper as needed. Do this for about 5 minutes.

Throw in about 48 ounces of chicken broth into the onion/pepper mixture and turn it up to medium-high heat. Pour in most of your amber beer of choice, and take a swig yourself.

Then come the carrots. Peel them (this supposedly helps with bitterness) or not. This time around we kept them unpeeled and chopped them into big chunks. Everyone loves a big hunk of carrot in their lives. Throw these guys into the pot. Lightly stir ingredients in the pot intermittently.

Prepare and chop the squash and zucchini into big chunks (see picture for reference). You want an equal amount of both. Keep these separate from the soup mixture as you want to add them later. Grab a handful of cilantro and coarsely chop it, too.

Put in shredded chicken after the broth has been simmering for about 50 minutes to an hour. Make sure the carrots are soft before you add the chicken. Add about 36 ounces of chicken broth at this point, and toss in the chopped cilantro… keeping a little bit aside for garnish.

Shortly after the chicken has been tossed in, add squash and zucchini slices and some more salt. Put the top on the pot to encapsulate the flavors and steam the veggies that were just added. Let the squash and zucchini stay at the top. After 10 or 15 minutes start lightly stirring ingredients, making sure that everything gets “dunked”. Let all these ingredients cook for about another 40 minutes together. **Add “extra flavor step” broth at the very end** Taste test it... you don't want the squash and zucchini to get too mushy. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a slice or two of lime. 

Enjoy with some friends (and maybe some Texas Keeper Cider Grafter Rose?) for maximum pleasure and fun. This soup stores well and tastes even better when you reheat it the next day, especially if you’ve put a lot of hot peppers in it. Bon appétit!

CSA Box Contents Week of July 8th

Our greenhouses have been empty for the past couple of months. We've stored tomato boxes in there,  used the space to cure some onions, but for the most part these 4 large structures have been void of much activity and life. But as the seasons go, that's all about to change. Beginning this week (and not stopping until the end early September!) the greenhouse will transform into one of the busiest places on the farm as our Greenhouse Manager, Gianna, works to get our fall crops seeded. This moment in our planting season is when we truly rely on our community volunteers to help us get set for our busiest season - fall.

Volunteers helping Gianna, our greenhouse manager, mix soil and fill flats. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Have you volunteered with us before? If so, you know what a good time it is. If you have never volunteered with us  at our Garfield farm, here is overview of what to expect: After heading east on 71, passing the Garfield water tower which tells you you're almost there, you suddenly find yourself in the country. And then, at the farm with fields of vegetables for pretty much as far as you can see. You head to the greenhouse, where some music may or may not be quietly playing from an old CD player, have covered in dirt. You settle in, meet our staff, and get to work. Our Garfield volunteers help mix soil for our transplant trays (or "flats" as we call then), fill trays with dirt, and put individual seeds into each tiny hole. At first the seeding work seems monotonous, and you're a little worried that you will be doing this all day.. but then, you get into a farmer groove, a meditative state where soil, seeds, good conversation and sweet tunes fuel your work, and suddenly it's time to go home. A bounty of veggies in tow.

Not your typical greenhouse picture. Photo by Scott David Gordon

We accept volunteers every Monday-Friday at our Garfield greenhouse, and every Tuesday-Friday at our Hergotz Packing shed-where you'll help us prepare for markets by washing and sorting veggies. All volunteer shifts are from 8am-1pm, and you must RSVP ahead of time before coming. Aside from the camaraderie, ability to interact with your food system, chance to learn about farming and stretch your legs, perhaps one of the best parts about volunteering with us is the bounty of vegetables you leave with. Each volunteer leaves the farm with what amounts to a medium (plus) CSA share. Aka: a ton of fresh food, the literal fruits of your labor.

We sincerely love our volunteers - it's these changing faces at the farm that help to keep things interesting when the season's get tough. Our volunteers help to add diversity to our day - volunteers come from all walks of life, from varying parts of Austin, and for a plethora or reasons. A few years ago The Chronicle mentioned our volunteer program as a great place to meet singles.. and yep, romances really do form after a day of volunteering.

Brenton talking shop with some of our volunteers. Photo by Scott David Gordon

If you'd like to get involved at the farm but our regular volunteer shirts don't work for you, shoot Angie and email at volunteeer@jbgorgnaic.com and let us know how you'd like to help. We sometimes have volunteers help us paint our delivery vehicles, setup for farmers' markets, or even help us with marketing endeavors. And if you're interested in farm life but would prefer to, you know, get paid for your time... we're also hiring. 

If you read this blog regularly, you know that farming is not easy work. We're not the only farm looking for volunteers, and we encourage you to share your time resources with other local growers as well. Two local farm volunteer events are happening this weekend. On Saturday, Urban Roots is having their last volunteer day of the season, and on Sunday, Hat and Heart Farm is having their (first ever!) volunteer day. Green Gate Farm and Farmshare Austin also usually have regular volunteer work days.

When Brenton very first got his backyard garden started, he turned to Craig's List to find volunteers. Today, we're so grateful to have a robust volunteer community, full of folks who have been coming to us, once a week, for years. If you have been curious what volunteering at the farm is like, we strongly encourage you to itch that curiosity...now! We could truly use the help now more than ever. Again, head to our volunteer webpage to learn a bit more and also to RSVP.

"A room with a view." Picture from Instagram, courtesy of volunteer @cestaimee

 

 

By Megan Winfrey

I'm talkin' tomatoes this week, specifically the preservation of that sweet, juicy, summer goodness. I hope many of you took part in the JBG bulk tomato sale! (JBG HERE.. ATTENTION: THIS SUNDAY 7/7 IS THE VERY LAST DAY TO ORDER BULK TOMATOES!) I actually wish I'd grabbed an extra 20 lbs. because it's like you blink and the season is over! It is a relatively short season, especially when mother nature decides to interfere. And when the bounty strikes, the race to ingest all of the tomatoes before their delicate bodies start to break down can feel overwhelming (and all that acidity can cause reflux). That's why it's so worth it to set aside a day to preserve your bulk tomatoes, which is time consuming but not at all difficult. Whatever you choose to make, and there are many many many methods to choose from, only a few tools and ingredients are needed.

You'll be all set for a relaxing day of caning once you've prepped the supplies, picked a good playlist, and poured some coffee or tea. I sincerely hope that no household disasters interfere with your kitchen serenity such as, I dunno, the washing machine spewing water all over the laundry room and flooding it....twice. That would majorly suck, which I know because that's exactly how my canning day went. Tomatoes bubbling away on the stove while I'm shoved between the wall and the washer trying desperately to catch at least some of the water in a waste basket. The day had a happy ending though. When the repair guy told me to wait for my husband to get home because "it takes a good bit of upper body strength to push the drain hose back on" - to which I said OH, HELL NO and did it myself. It took several tries and a second flood but I did it. And finished the canning. Take that, repair guy.

How To Have Your Own Tomato Canning Day :

It's essential to have everything prepped before you start cooking the tomatoes. Make sure that you have a clean stock pot or canning pot, plenty of jars and ring lids, and a set of canning tongs. To prep the jars, I load them into the dishwasher and run a sanitizing wash - which is much more convenient than boiling them. At the same time, I put the lids and rings into a saucepan, cover with water, and let them simmer on low for at least 10 minutes or until I'm ready for them. This sanitizes them and softens the rubber seal of the lid. Also, wash and dry all of the tomatoes that you'll be working with.

If you're sticking to basic canned tomatoes, the only other ingredient you need is bottled lemon juice. Experts recommend using the bottled stuff because it has a consistent amount of acid which will ensure a shelf stable product. You'll need added spices for things like jam and marinara, which you probably already have on hand.

After eating plenty of fresh 'maters with salt and pepper, my 10 lbs. of San Marzanos and 10 lbs. of home growns yielded: 3 quarts whole tomatoes 2 pints puree (+ some extra in the fridge for immediate use) 2 pints marinara 1 half pint jam (+ some extra in the fridge)

Spoils of labor. (Left to right) tomato purée, marinara, tomato jam, and whole tomatoes.

For the whole canned tomatoes, I'll reference my tutorial from a few summers ago.

Tomato puree is a bit more involved, but SO worth it for that velvety smooth texture and bright flavor. Start by rough chopping your tomatoes, about 1 1/2 pounds per pint jar. Add all of the tomatoes to a large pot and bring to a boil. As they cook, they will release juices that act as a cooking liquid. Once they get nice and juicy, reduce to a simmer and cook until the tomatoes have broken down and are completely immersed in liquid. I don't have a food mill so I cooked mine for about 30 minutes, stirring and mashing frequently, then whirled it in the blender. If you do have a mill, you can pull them off the heat sooner, let cool, then run through the mill to break up all the bigger bits. Once your tomato mixture is either blended or milled and then cooled, press it through a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl, working in batches. This will remove all of the skins and seeds, leaving a velvety puree. I used both my fist and a soft spatula to release every bit of juice possible - and don't forget to scrape the bottom of the sieve to remove the thick pulp that builds up. Give it a stir and if it looks watery, dump it back in your large pot and simmer until the texture is to your liking. This puree will stay good in the fridge for about a week and can also be frozen for up to 4 months. To can, add 1 tbs. bottled lemon juice to each hot jar. Pour in the puree leaving about an inch of air space, then top with lids and rings. Don't over tighten them! Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Lower each jar into the water carefully, they should be covered by at least an inch of water, and let boil for 45 minutes. Remove with canning tongs and let cool at room temperature, listening for the lids to pop indicating their seal. If any of them don't seal, just stick in the fridge and use within a week.

Tomato jam is my JAM. I've been smearing it over goat cheese crackers and topping fried eggs with it like crazy. Not knowing where to begin, I followed this recipe, but tweaked it a bit of course. I reduced the sugar to just 1/4 cup and I'm so glad I did. I also subbed the fresh ginger for powdered ginger, and used red pepper flakes instead of jalapeno - I needed a few shortcuts for my sanity after the washing machine fiasco. The flavor came out incredible and I had to smack the spoon out of my husbands hand to keep him from eating it all right out of the saucepan. I scraped it into a half pint jar and added it to the canning bath for 45 minutes to seal the lid and make it shelf stable...except that I've already opened it up so you could probably skip that part unless you have multiple jars.

Cored San Marzanos ready for the jam pot. I used a grapefruit spoon for easy coring!

Marinara is super simple and a great way to utilize those patio herbs. I made this last and used the San Marzanos I had left, about 2.5 lbs. Peeling the tomatoes is the most time consuming part of this recipe, but worth it. Start by bringing a pot of water to a boil. Cut an "X" into the bottom of each tomato with a sharp knife - this allows the skins to pucker and slide off easily. Once the water is boiling, drop in 3-4 tomatoes at a time for just a minute or two. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to an ice water back when you see the skin starting to peel back from the "X". Once you've par-boiled all of the tomatoes, peel each one and roughly chop.

Peeling whole tomatoes for canning.

You'll need: 1 large onion, diced 4 garlic cloves, diced 2 fennel bulbs, diced 1 tsp. each dried basil, oregano, and thyme sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste 1 cup dry red wine peeled and chopped tomatoes handful of fresh herbs (basil, parsley, oregano), chopped

Saute the onion and fennel in a large pot over medium-high heat until they soften a bit. Add the garlic, dried herbs, salt, and pepper and cook until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and wine, stir to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for at least an hour, stirring frequently to prevent burning or over thickening. Let cool, add the fresh herbs and transfer to a blender. Give it a good whirl until it reaches your desired consistency. This will keep in the fridge for about a week and can be frozen for up to 4 months. Transfer to hot jars and process in the canning bath for 45 minutes for a shelf stable product.

We think that our staff is the best in the business (okay, okay, we are a little biased), but the JBG family hails from all over the place and covers the gamut in talents and interests. We love sharing events, adventures, and side projects that inspire and excite our JBG-ers (food-related or not) with the community. Check out the staff-curated list of favorites below!

Heydon (Recipe Developer)

A couple of weeks ago, a few friends and I schlepped out to Round Rock for a Round Rock Express game! It was all of our first times there and we had a blast. Beers, hot dogs, fireworks, good times... what more do you need? My boyfriend got the biggest hot dogs I've ever seen (see pic below) with the green-est relish I've also ever seen. Minor league baseball is really fun.

Nothing like some ballpark dogs to feel that American spirit.

Joyce (Wholesale Sales Team)

I’ve been working with Austin Cats and Dogs Rescue (ACDR) since October 2018 when I started fostering 3 feral kittens for them. ACDR is a really small animal rescue based here in Austin, and we are always looking for more cat/kitten/dog/puppy fosters! All we require from our fosters is for you to open your home and heart to our animals! That’s it! We provide all supplies :) It’s been a really rewarding, and who doesn’t love kittens? On the side, I’ve been collecting t-shirt donations to make dog rope toys out of. These rope toys have been donated to our rescue puppies and to other shelters in the area. If anyone wants a rope toy or two... or more, I’m happy to accept donations for them! All donations go towards saving more animals and feeding these hungry puppies!!! To see our adoptable animals, you can check us out @austin.catsanddogs.rescue on Instagram And you can reach out to my about dog toys at joyce_ni23@yahoo.com or @joyceknee on Instagram!

Joyce, her kitty, and some of the puppies up for adoption. Too much cuteness if you ask us....

Ada (Blog + Marketing Lady)

Below is a photo of me and Becky at our last Club Home Made gathering. We kicked off this Monday-night Meal Prep Club a couple months ago, and so far... so good! Actually... so great! Pictured you'll see a room full of friends (old and new) who are chopping vegetables and getting themselves meal prepped for the week. Many of the veggies we use come from JBG, as well as some other local farms, and all of the meat we've used thus far has come from Richardson's Farms. If you'd like to start cooking more, but don't know where to start... check us out! Here is our website and here is our Instagram. If you'd like to just know more, here's an article written about us (whohoo!) a couple months ago that explains what we're going for.

Ada and Becky, so happy to have so many folks eager to meal-prep with them.

I also wanted to give a specific shout out to the space where we do these classes - the East Austin Culinary Studio. Amanda, who runs this studio, has created an incredible kitchen space which feels like your home kitchen...but cooler. And likely cleaner, and better equipped. Checkout her website and sign up for her emails - this green-walled studio is home to so many wonderful cooking classes and community events!

Fawn (Farmers' Market Coordinator)

In a couple of weeks, my family is taking a road trip to Detroit to deliver our beautiful old Heathway glass lathe to the Michigan Glass Project, which is a nonprofit that raises money from the sale of donated glass art to give back to the community (specifically, to put art programs back into Detroit public schools.) My homeboy manfriend (husband) Stephan will be demoing his lathe skills at the live glassblowing event and probably making fancy drinkware to donate. Me and the kids will get to explore a new city, checking out the Belle Isle Park and wandering over to Canada, eh.

A drawing of the lathe Fawn and her husband are delivered to Detroit. SPG = Stephan Peirce Glass.

Adam (Marketing + HR)

My first batch of fermented pepper mash is finishing up just in time to make some home-made hot sauce for 4th of July barbecues. I used a mix of hot peppers and a few sweet peppers from the CSA box with a saltwater brine.

I let these babies ferment for a few weeks but watching them bubble up on my kitchen counter and looking forward to the flavor made it feel like an eternity.

Fermentation is one of the oldest forms of preserving food and these hotties should last a long time but not in my kitchen!

Adam's fermented pepper mash, which he plans to put on just about... everything.

 

Brenton (The guy that started this all)

I'm going to Laos and Thailand at the end of the month. I think I subconsciously planted a lot of Thai vegetables this year in my excitement for this trip. Right now we're growing 4 types of Thai chilies, holy basil, Thai basil, lemongrass, mint, eggplant, cilantro and cilantro root. Everything you need for some awesome Thai food... which is really what inspired this vacation. I'm taking a food vacation.  

Faith (We're not really sure what Faith's exact title is, but she's the CSA/Customer Service Extraordinaire)

Night walks.

Be like Faith. Take a night walk.

 

Thanks for reading!

Scott Gordon did it again. This week at the farm, Scott captured small snippets of the big picture: fall transplants getting planted, summer crops getting harvested, and peppers hot on the vine. What you may notice lacking are pictures of tomatoes... that's because, believe it or not, these are dwindling in supply. In case you missed the memo: Sunday 7/ 7 is the deadline to order any of your bulk tomatoes. If you plan to do any canning, we recommend you order an Marzanos. These "sauce" tomatoes are very meaty and lack the usual juice of a tomato.. making them perfect of making thick sauces, marinaras, or jams. Order your tomatoes here. 

Farmer turned model? Or Model turned farmer? Photo by Scott David Gordon

The greenhouse is filling up with fall crops! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Planting more sweet potatoes! Photo by Scott David Gordon

Unloaded graffiti eggplant from the harvest trailer. Photo by Scott David Gordon

These crates are called IFCOS, and they have to stack just right... Photo by Scott David Gordon

Endless shishitos for endless dipping. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Shishitos on the pepper plant. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Cherry bomb peppers get a special ride in the front seat. Photo by Scott David Gordon

Volunteers and carrots go together like peanut butter and jelly. Photo by Scott David Gordon

CSA Box Contents Week of July 1st