I planted my peas, beets and carrots in mid-March and they are going like gangbusters now. Today I sauteed a quart of peas (three different kinds) with sesame oil and tamari (soy sauce) along with some slivered almonds and had them for dinner. I also roasted some beets and carrots in the oven with salt and oil (early for them, but they are about ready) and sauteed some beet greens and rapini with paprika, salt, oil and water (the rapini, or broccoli raab, was from Chesapeake's Choice.) By the time I finished the quart of peas, I was full, so it looks like I have some delicious leftovers for tomorrow.
Notice the weird colors of the heirloom beets and carrots. I like weird colors. The oxblood-colored carrot is orange on the inside. My neighbor told me a story recently about how orange carrots used to be rare; I'll have to look that up.
A note on beet greens; they are delicious and taste a little like chard or a slightly salty spinach. If you grow beets, please try them because they are a real treat.
By the way, Yeon has not been posting much recently because she has been under the weather. Why not drop her a note to cheer her up?
Shannon
Monday, June 8, 2009
Peas, beets, carrots, and rapini
Monday, April 27, 2009
Plants: What I look forward to at the Farmer's Market.
At the annual Master Gardener's plant sale, I bought two tomato plants to take advantage of the hot weather and have a jump start on tomatoes. I also purchased a couple of native columbine plants and a native honey suckle along with a few others. However I was very conservative in my plant purchase because I knew that there will be diverse plants offered at the farmer's market.
- Basil (warm weather annual)
- Parsley (likes cool weather, biennial - will go to seed after the first winter)
- Rosemary (tender perennial, will over-winter if a protection is given)
- Thyme (perennial)
- Sage (perennial)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Eggs: What I look forward to at the Farmer's Market
We have eleven days to go for the West Frederick Farmer's Market to open. While patiently waiting and counting down days, I am making a list of what I look forward to at the market. If you have been busy and haven't had a chance to reflect on what the farmer's market brings to us, this list will hopefully help you remember the joy of going to farmer's market and get excited. If you haven't had a chance to shop at the farmer's market, hopefully this series will entice and encourage you to come out and join the crowd at the market. While making the list, I will focus on the items that will be available on May 2.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Photos from the Farmer's Market
The Farmer's market is overflowing with the season's best vegetables, fruits and flowers. It is such a feast of colors, and the beautiful fresh bounty makes your heart beat fast with excitement. The photos below show only the vendors in the south row. I volunteered for Cakes for Cause on August 9 and 23 and thus had a limited time window to take photos. I will take more photos from the middle and north rows in coming weeks. Dan also has some photos from the previous markets and we will set up an album or a slide show once they are all compiled.
If you park next to the holiday cinemas and walk into the market, one of the first vendors you see is Shuck Pottery.
I bought a little green tea cup from Michael the other week. Do you have another one just like this one? I asked. No, I am sorry. I don't have one exactly like that one. In fact, I work very hard to make everything look different and unique, and believe it or not, it is pretty tough. He replied in smile.
Elin is wearing a new Cakes For Cause t-shirt. Behind her, you can see the freshly-baked croissants, scones, breads and others. Mike and Kate are working near a lemonade station.
I love the summery dresses and skirts that people wear to farmer's market. When this little girl ordered a strawberry lemonade, I had to take a picture. See her dress, her mom's dress and the lemonade all match!
Erland and Rieko of New Hope Farms sell oriental cucumbers which I love very much. This is the type of cucumber that I grew up with, and is crispy, its skin is never bitter, and extremely versatile. This week they surprised me with bags of microgreen! The only time I ate them was at Morimoto restaurant. If you are into salad green, definitely check this out.
I am always amazed at how many plants come out of the M & W Nursery van. They always bring beautiful trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals.
Sarah and Lisa are very knowledgeable about plants and let you know where the plants like to be placed and what kind of care they require.
Jubilee Organic Farm offers the most variety of organic produce in the farmer's market and they are now at the full height of summer produce. Everything looks gorgeous. Did I mention that they bring excellent melons?
Look at the crates of melon stacked up. You can see Ruth is setting up a station where she will cup up melons so that we can sample them before we buy.
Nothing beats the corn crowd at Scenic View Orchards. And their sweet juicy peaches are so good that I have been eating and cooking two quarts to half peck of peaches every week! I am not even going to start the overwhelmingly long list of awesome produce they bring to the market. Just come and see it for yourself.
You face Chesapeake's Choice at the end of south row. Dave and Nancy's farm must be exploding with produce - I noticed that their stand has almost tripled in the size. The table got so long I had to take photos from the other angle.
These two photos don't even cover the dog biscuits and the huge tub of melons that they brought this week.
You know how a kid responds when you lift her and spin her around? She laughs high and shouts, "Let's do it again!" I feel the same way. Let's do it again! - I can hardly wait till this Saturday for another farmer's market.
Fun with houseguests
I've had houseguests for the past few days and I have really enjoyed them. One of the things we have spent a lot of time doing is cooking and hanging out in the kitchen.
I lucked out when I got the place that I live in; the people before me lived in the kitchen and they consumed the dining room to expand the kitchen. Though I sort of miss having a dining room, the kitchen is a great place to cook, socialize and eat. It's perfect for guests.
I cooked tofu enchiladas on their first night (made with tofu and cabbage but no cheese, because the son is lactose intolerant; I was wary but they were excellent with homemade tomatillo sauce). This morning I made tomato sauce with tomatoes from the garden for a future pasta dish. Tonight I am making vegetable soup with chicken stock and fresh vegetables from the farmer's market. We've eaten our weights in fresh tomatoes the past few days.
I love that my friends can walk by the vegetable garden and pick things to eat on the spot or for the evening meal. I also enjoyed going to the farmer's market with one of them yesterday, where we ran into other friends, stood in line for each other, and picked out choice veggies.
I got a beautiful fennel bulb from Chesapeake's Choice at the market yesterday. I almost put it in tonight's soup but my friend can't tolerate fennel. It doesn't taste like food to her. I understand because I feel the same way about other foods. Like most store-bought cakes, the frosting especially. My body just does not recognize that as food.
We've eaten outside in the backyard at the table under the dogwood tree and we've eaten in the kitchen around the island. Next up: a picnic and grilling of eggplants. I am really enjoying my houseguests.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
What 40$ will get you at the farmer's market
Thank goodness I made it to the Farmer's Market today; I was suffering from withdrawal. I got there around 11 and made a beeline for Cakes for Cause. Sadly, they were already out of lemon ginger scones. Here's what 40$ got me at the farmer's market today:
- 2 cheddar chive scones, 2 chocolate croissants and a rye ciabatta from Cakes For Cause
- 3 doggie biscuits and a nice big eggplant from Chesapeake's choice
- a package of Canadian bacon and a ham salad sandwich from Rohrer's meats
- a round of goat's milk baby Swiss from Caprikorn farms (new product!)
- two containers of yogurt and a big ball of fresh mozzarella from South Mountain Creamery
- a quart of peaches from Scenic View Orchards
Right now I am roasting San Marzano paste tomatoes in the oven with oregano and basil to make fresh pizza sauce. They will be wonderful with the fresh mozzarella. And I think I am going to make a peach berry cobbler for the family reunion tomorrow...
Friday, August 1, 2008
Letter from Nancy, Chesapeake's Choice
This week at the market I will have Heirloom tomatoes: Brandywine, Oxheart, Green Zebra, and Moscovich.
See you Saturday!
Thanks,
Nancy
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Red-veined sorrel recipes
Nancy from Chesapeake's Choice gave me some gorgeous red-veined sorrel this week at the farmer's market. Nancy carries some very gourmet greens and I am always very impressed with them. I think a lot of people who go to the market don't know what to do with some of these greens and pass them by, but this is a mistake!
I was curious about what to do with this green. I tried eating a little of it raw and was surprised by its tartness; I shouldn't have been- wood sorrel, the clover with the heart-shaped leaves and little yellow flowers that you see everywhere, also has this same tartness, similar to a lemon. Both plants are edible. The red-veined sorrel is supposed to be good for salads, but the larger leaves I have impart a slightly bitter taste that puts me off of eating it raw (some people love bitter greens- they are good for you and it is a matter of taste). So I went on a little journey through my cookbook collection. After doing a little research, I am excited to share some recipes with you from people who consider this a highly prized green.
Sorrel disintegrates when cooked, which makes it awesome for soups and sauces. It pairs with the flavors of onion, leek, potato, egg, cream, sour cream, lard, peas, chicken, and butter. To make a simple sorrel puree, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone recommends the following:
Using 4 cups or about 5 ounces of sorrel leaves, if the leaves are large of coarse, pull the stems down the entire length of the leaves and discard them [definitely do this- the one stem I didn't pull off never cooked up]. Coarsely chop the leaves. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the leaves with a few tablespoons water and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, pushing them about with a fork to break them up. Add more water, as needed, so that they don't fry. Season with a pinch of salt and store in a covered container in the refrigerator. Makes about 1/4 cup. Use over a period of several weeks.I love anything that can last a few weeks in the fridge. I have tried to get many things to last a couple of weeks there and have been sorely disappointed. With sorrel's companionship to eggs and fats, it would be delicious on eggs Benedict. I also imagine it would be yummy baked into a pastry, or marbling the top of a cream-based soup. Green sorrel would also be great mixed into split pea soup. The red sorrel would turn your soup a poopy color when mixed with green peas. But I bet it would be gorgeous in red lentil soup.
I just made the puree and it is a pinky red color, and mildly tart. The bitterness has mellowed into a complex taste with the butter and I have to give it an A plus. I am imagining all of the good things you could make with it.
Here is a recipe for Polish Sorrel Soup (Zupa Szczafu) from an excellent cookbook, Greene on Greens. He calls it "one of the best soups I have ever consumed" and this gourmand has eaten a lot. Bonus: it takes about 45 minutes to make. You can make this with some fingerling potatoes from Summer Creek Farm, sour cream from South Mountain Creamery, and bacon from the Rohrer's (they may even have salt pork, I don't know):
1 pound fresh sorrel
1/4 pound salt pork, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
salt and freshly ground black pepper
chopped fresh parsley
Serves 4 to 6.
- Trim the sorrel, discarding the stems. Chop the leaves and set aside.
- Saute the salt pork in a medium saucepan over medium heat until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Stir in the onion, cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the flour. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in the potatoes, chicken broth, water, and sorrel. Heat to boiling; reduce the heat. Cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the heat and slowly stir in the sour cream. Return it to low heat and cook (do not allow to boil) until warmed through. Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with parsley.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Back from the market and feeling good
I had a great time volunteering at the Cakes for Cause booth today at the farmer's market. As always, the scones were a huge hit. We had coconut (new), ginger lemon (my fave), cheddar chive, and sour cherry. The volunteers were Jeanine, Yeon, Klu, Dan and myself. Yeon and I also made artisanal flatbread (aka crackers) and sold 10 of the 12 packages we had made. Since Elin the baker mastermind was out of town, we didn't have the croissants, cinnamon rolls, or oatmeal bread they normally have at the booth. This was the subject of great consternation by the booth's regular patrons. Have no fear, Elin will be back next week! She will appreciate hearing the rabid following she has gotten, especially for the cinnamon rolls, which she always makes the morning of the farmer's market.
I did not keep good track of my money, but here is what I got today:
- Cup of lemonade, coconut scone, bread crumbs, and a pack of flatbread from Cakes for Cause. (the bread crumbs are great for breaded fish fillets, stuffed tomatoes, crab cake filler, and zucchini au gratin casserole);
- Bunches of red sorrel and red celery, plus three dog biscuits and two jalapeño peppers from Chesapeake's Choice;
- A pound of bacon and a baked ham sandwich from Rohrer's (I started eating it before I even finished paying for it);
- Jalapeño cheddar cheese from Caprikorn farms (I made mini pizzas with this on the flatbread this evening);
- A quart of fingerling potatoes from Summer Creek Farm (I also got on Rick's mailing list for his CSA so I can share what he has fresh each week);
- A pint of apricots (if you read this blog, you know I am addicted) and a pint of red raspberries from Scenic View.
- I ate some Glade Link Farm blueberries from Jeanine's bag because I didn't get enough of them picking last weekend.
Shannon
Saturday, July 5, 2008
4th of July and Farmer's Market
This weekend is a big one for local produce!
First, I had the 4th of July party yesterday at my new place. The crowd was a good mix; old friends, family, and new neighbor friends. A lot of the food was standard holiday favorites like devilled eggs and potato salad, hamburgers and hot dogs. There were also a few new standouts:
- Caprese salad:
Fresh-sliced tomatoes with fresh mozzarella (the kind that comes packed in water) and basil leaves, with balsamic vinegar glaze and olive oil drizzled on top with a little salt. This dish highlights the tomatoes, so it's best to make when the local ones are really fresh. I had one brandywine from my garden and a few hothouse ones from Scenic View. The basil was from a little stand at the Thursday farmer's market in Everedy Square on East Street. I picked up the mozzarella (homemade by my friend Juliet), balsamic glaze, and olive oil at Juliet's (also known as Vignola's Italian Market, on Church Street). You could just as easily use regular balsamic vinegar, but the glaze keeps its shape nicely. You can also make a glaze by reducing balsamic vinegar over medium low heat until it's syrupy. - Grilled vegetables:
This is also super-easy. Slice your vegetables (I used squash and zucchini from Chesapeake's Choice, garlic scapes from the West Frederick Farmer's market, plus some eggplant and multicolor peppers from the store.) Toss with a dressing of your choice and make sure there is enough oil that your veggies will not stick to the grill. I tossed in a little canola oil with salt and then threw in some ginger and sesame teriyaki marinade. People kept asking me about the marinade, and look, I got it from a bottle. It's easy to make it though if you have some soy/tamari sauce and pineapple juice with fresh grated ginger and a little sesame seed oil. Note that grilled veggies are also great rolled up around a little wad of lemon-flavored ricotta. - Lime & peanut coleslaw:
I used this recipe from 101 Cookbooks but modified it to include roasted almond slivers instead of peanuts. I also threw in a few of Yeon's tomatillos. Big hit. I made a huge bowl (double recipe) and there was nothing left. I also used cilantro from our gardens. Isn't that nice? I was planning to use my cherry tomatoes but the rain the night before split them. (Yeon reminds me that this salad has a strong lime and cilantro flavor that not everyone likes. The people who do like it are rabid about it.)
And a note about the devilled eggs: I made them once for a picnic using my mother's recipe and my friends scarfed them. Both Elin and Yeon requested them again. My mother made four dozen for the Fourth. FOUR DOZEN. There were none left. I'll post a recipe here soon. Use local eggs but use older ones- they are easier to peel.At the farmer's market today, I was in kind of a haze. I have so much leftover food and beer in my refrigerator that I did not spend my normal $40. I spent about $15 and got:
- Cranberry-orange scone, chocolate croissant, and apricot cookie from Cakes for Cause
- 1 cup of yogurt and a container of cheddar-horseradish cream cheese from South Mountain Creamery (ate some of the cream cheese on ciabatta toasts this afternoon- delicious).
- Three dog cookies from Chesapeake's choice
- a pint of apricots from Scenic View. I am obsessively in love with apricots.
The market is bursting with produce now. Don't miss it! And when you buy stuff, think of the poor people like myself whose refrigerators are full to bursting and can't enjoy any more goodness.
Shannon
Thursday, July 3, 2008
JapChae: stir-fried vermicelli noodle with vegetables
I got three different kinds of summer squash from Nancy at the Chesapeake's choice farm stand, and am also harvesting my volunteer squash. I would like to share some of the recipes for these yummy, young squashes. The first in the summer squash series is a stir-fried noodle. It is a variation of JapChae, one of the most popular and well-known Korean dishes. There are some ingredients that might be new to you:
- DangMyun: Vermicelli noodle. This one is made of 100% sweet potato starch, so it belongs to the cellophane noodle family. Cook the noodle in boiling water till tender about 10 min. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- Dried Tree Ear Mushroom: This mushroom has a chewy texture with a rather bland flavor. They do look like ears once reconstituted in water.
- Dried Shitake Mushroom: Very unique taste. Sometimes you can find them even fresh in a grocery-store. Any Asian grocery store will carry dried shitake mushroom. Two to three mushroom caps in water for 15 minutes.
- Yellow Squash: from Nancy's farm stand. Julienned, sauteed with Shallot.
- Cucumber: from Chris' Jubilee Organic farm. Julienned, sauteed just to take some water out.
- Carrot:from Common Market. Julienned, sauteed with spring onion from Catoctin Mountain Orchard.
- Eggs: made in crepe style then cut.
- Poblano pepper: from my garden. Also julienned and sauteed.
Now in a big stock pot or your paella pan or anything that is big enough to hold all the ingredients, put a little bit of veg oil, a little bit of sesame oil (Chinese/Korean/Japanese brand will do. Dark sesame oil, not the refined type), garlic, soy sauce and sugar. I don't know why but we make this noodle a little bit sweet. I tend to use a lot less sugar than other people, but it is really up to your preference. I add a bit of fish sauce, probably not very traditional but I do it anyway.Cook the sauce and garlic a little bit, then on the low heat, introduce the cooked noodle to the pot, coat the noodle with the sauce. I don't measure when I cook Korean food because I adjust till I get what I am looking for. Just to give you a rough idea, I think I used about
- 4 cups of cooked vermicelli
- 2 TBS of soy sauce
- 1 TBS of fish sauce
- 1 TBS of dark sesame oil
- 1 TBS of vegetable oil
- 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
- 1 TBS of sugar
Decorated with egg and poblano pepper strips, this one is ready for me to eat! Sweet and tender yellow squash, crispy cucumber, yummy shitake with all the fixings built-in, this is a perfect one-pot meal for summer night.
Yeon
Saturday, June 28, 2008
What $40 can get you from the farmer's market
Every week (unless I am in a working gulag at the old house) I go to the farmer's market on Baughman's lane with $40. I generally spend it down to almost nothing. Here is what I got today:
- Ham salad sandwich from the Rohrers (aka Meat Man) which I promptly ate
- Half gallon milk from the South Mountain Creamery (aka Milk Man, cost me a quarter after returning three deposit bottles)
- a cup of fresh lemonade, 4 lemon-ginger scones (ate one), 2 cheddar-chive scones, and a chocolate croissant from Cakes for Cause
- 1 bunch chard, three doggie biscuits (Lucy the dog ate two), and a patty pan squash from Chesapeake's Choice
- 1 pint of organic yellow potatoes from Summer Creek Farm (and some water for Lucy)
- a pint of cherries from the Scenic View Orchard
- a pint of blueberries from Glade Link Farm (ate a few, FANTASTIC)
- brought back $2.25.
Side note: I harvested some cherry tomatoes from the backyard last night. About five of them. I ate a few of the uglier ones with splits and left three on Edna's porch rail. I expect that her fresh produce radar has already found them...
Shannon
