Saturday Morning at the Market

Thanks so much to every one who stopped by to visit me this past Saturday at the South Shore Farmer's Market.  We had a beautiful (albeit) early morning in the park.  I am not a morning person, so the fact that I got there before some of the farmers were done setting up is something I am equal parts proud of and depressed by.

Having been an avid farmer's market shopper for three years now, I'm starting to get into the hang of what is going to be there when.  It's also helpful that I get an email from my CSA farmers around Tuesday of the week, and what they've got is a good indication of what's going to be available at the market.  Of course, none of that can account for the fact that - I suspect just to throw me off my game - nobody had garlic at the market this past Saturday.

I think that cooking at the farmer's market really exemplifies what's at the heart of locavore cooking.  It's nothing fancy, nothing flashy, nothing rehearsed.  I like to think of my cooking a lot like I think of my dancing.  For those of you who only know me from my blogging, I am also an American Tribal Style Belly Dancer (South Shore Market regulars: those are the belly dancers you see a few times a year!).  The thing that drew me to ATS Belly Dance was the fact that it is improvisational group dancing.  We always dance in groups, and nothing is choreographed.  You practice a lot with the women you dance with, you know your music well, and you learn the "vocabulary" of the dance, but when push comes to shove you just don't know what exactly is going to go down.  This, to me, is the joy of the dance.  You are in the moment, and 90% of the time you need to give that control away.  You know what should happen, and you can even influence it a little, but in the end you need to give that control away.  You are not in charge.  You have to trust those around you to take care of you, and you are responsible for taking care of them.  And when something goes wrong, you smile, forgive, and move on.  And you learn something new for next time.  And maybe, if you're really lucky, you get to create a new move!

This is how I feel about locavore cooking.  You learn the ingredients.  You learn how they should work.  You learn when they should be there.  But in the end, you need to work with what you have.  And maybe things don't turn out exactly how you want, but maybe they turn out better.  And maybe you end up with something even better than what you had intended.  In the end, that is what locavore cooking is about.  You need to let go and work with whatever is at the market.  In today's well stocked grocery store, you can get whatever you want whenever you want it.  That's great, but there's nothing to push you outside of your bubble.

I'm not saying I necessarily got pushed outside of my comfort zone at the market this past weekend.  While not having garlic is fairly traumatic to anyone of marginally Italian descent, "just leaving it out" probably isn't getting pushed outside of your bubble.  But I'm not talking about me right now, am I?  No.  I'm talking about you.  I'm saying that you should allow yourself to get pushed out of your bubble.  Because it's fun.  Because I promise that the bag of weird looking mushrooms that you pick up at the market is going to taste way better than whatever you "just have" to run to the grocery store for.  Because I bet you wouldn't have believed me before that peaches and corn make a good salad.  And because cooking (like dancing) should be fun.  

The recipes came out well.  My helpers Denise and Missie were amazing.  The plants that I strategically placed throughout the audience asked all the right questions at all the right times.  Okay, the gazpacho was a bit spicy, but I cooled everyone down with a little maple bacon ice cream so they have to forgive me, right?  Right.

Thanks again for coming out to see me.  And if you didn't, you can make it up to me next time!  I'll be dancing at the market this coming Saturday...


Corn and Peach Salad

• 4 cobs corn
• 1 lb peaches
• 1 small red onion
• mixed greens (preferably with edible flowers for decoration)
• 1 lime
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 jalapeno? 

Grill the corn for about 5 minutes on each side.  You're looking to get it charred and a little smokey, but you don't want to overcook the corn.  Meanwhile, slice or cube the peaches into bite sized chunks, and finely dice the red onion.  Once the corn is grilled, cut it off of the cob and combine with the peaches, onion, and mixed greens in a large bowl.  (Larger than the one I used!)  In a separate bowl, whisk together the juice of one lime, the olive oil,  and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.  (You can also add a minced jalapeno into the dressing, but I accidentally threw this into the gazpacho - making it extra spicy!)  Pour the dressing over the salad, and toss gently again to combine.

This is a light, refreshing salad that would go well with any grilled meat in the summer.  You could also add some avocado, feta, or nuts (if you're into that sort of thing).  Another thing I thought of while walking the market after the demo was to flake some of the Rushing Waters smoked trout on top and make an entree salad. 

Grilled Vegetable "Gazpacho"

Yes, I know that gazpacho is made with raw vegetables.  Yes, I know gazpacho is traditionally thickened with bread.  This has neither of those things.  That's why it's "gazpacho."  Missie (who took the last of it home) named it "Ka-spacho." I don't care what you want to call it.  It's a refreshing summer meal or side, a good way to use up whatever vegetables you have lying around the house, and would make a damn fine Bloody Mary base.  

This is what I did at the market, but you can really feel free to throw in whatever other ingredients you have, or omit any that you don't.  (Garlic anyone?)

• 1 large zucchini (about 1 to 1.5 lbs), cut into large cubes
• 1 red onion,  quartered
• 1 jalapeno (or two depending on how you're feeling)
• 2 bell peppers - whatever color you're feeling
• A large handful of fresh herbs (if you find yourself thinking - wait, I didn't notice this at the market, you are very perceptive.  And also shhh!)
• 1 cucumber
• 2 (ish) lbs tomatoes, halved or quartered, depending on the size
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Combine first five ingredients, along with any additional vegetables you may have lying around your kitchen.   Toss with a drizzling of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.  Grill until just charred, but not soft or mushy.  If you want, at this point, you can remove the skins from the peppers, and the seeds from the jalapenos.  If the peppers are nicely charred, the skins should slip right off, but this step is not necessary.

While the first set of veggies is grilling, blend the cucumber until it is fully liquified.  Add the grilled vegetables, and blend again until thick.  The zucchini has a nice viscosity to it, and will thicken up the soup nicely, while the cucumber and the tomato thin it out.  In this case, the zucchini takes the place of the bread.

Toss the tomatoes in olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.  Grill for about 10 minutes, tossing occasionally.  You want the tomatoes to start to dry up slightly, and get a little charred on the outside, without drying up.

Once the tomatoes are warm and getting a little caramelized,  transfer them into the blender and puree. 

At this point, I like to combine the green portion and the tomato portion artistically.  You can stir them together, but I like how the layers look.  Depends on how fancy you're feeling that day.


Quark and Beet Dip

Easiest. Recipe. Ever.

Roast off 1.5 lbs of beets (the color's up to you) and allow to cool.  Put into a food processor, and process until smooth.  Combine with 1 8 oz container of quark from the Clock Shadow Creamery (your choice of flavor... try the maple, it's award winning!)  Add a dash of any spices you feel appropriate (cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne...?  Preferably not all four.), or maybe a bit of lemon zest, and stir to combine.  Serve as a dip with crusty bread, carrot or celery sticks, or crackers.

Maple Bacon Ice Cream
(Hahahahaha.  Nope.)

Send me a message to place your order ;)

Next up - what to do with the pile of zucchini and cherry tomatoes building up on my kitchen counter.  Got any tips for me, or anything you'd like to see me try?  Leave them in the comments.

Summer Part 2

So, yesterday I talked about my realization that I already was a locavore in the summer without even trying.  Today I want to talk about why I haven't been posting as much as I thought I would.  I think the excuse that it's summer and I don't want to sit in front of my computer and type is pretty self explanatory.   It's either nice out, and I want to be outside, or it's hot out, and I don't want to sit in front of a computer that is giving off more heat.  Kind of self explanatory.

What I really wanted to explain was my statement that, in the summer, I don't want to cook fancy food.  Don't get me wrong, I have not fallen off of the locavore wagon at all.  In fact, I suspect the past four or five meals I've prepared were 100% local with the exception of olive oil, salt, and pepper.  But, there is something about summer that makes me hungry for very simple food.

I've said it before, but during the winter in WI there isn't much fresh.  This is a good time to experiment with strong flavors and spices, because the food itself doesn't have that much flavor on its own.  But in the summer - and especially right now when the produce is really just starting to come - I want to do as little with it as possible.  I don't even want a tomato mozzarella salad, even though that is probably one of my favorite foods in the world, I just want to eat the tomato.  I don't want to make coq a vin (another one of my favorite foods), I just want to throw the chicken on the grill and let the flavor of the chicken really shine.

One thing I'm really starting to notice is that there really is a difference in the flavor of chicken.  Purchase a local chicken from your farmer's market - one that has been butchered the day before and has never been frozen - and grill it up.  The first thing you will notice as compared to grocery store chicken is the texture.  The meat is firmer and moister - an effect of not being processed and not having anything added to it.  The next time you are in the grocery store, take a look at what you are buying and what percent of it is "added solution."  This is basically water.  They are selling you meat by weight, and adding water to it.  Most chicken at the grocery store has a label on it that shows it is 8-12% added solution by weight.  If you buy a 4 lb bird at $2 a pound, almost a dollar is going to water.

But if you start to get fresh chickens regularly, you will also start to notice the difference in the flavor of these chickens.  A chicken that lived and was butchered in the spring tastes different than one from the summer, or one from the fall or winter.  The saying "you are what you eat" is very true when it comes to food, and if you think about it, you can taste what the chicken has been eating - whether that's chicken feed or fresh grass and clovers.  It's a subtle flavor and, in the end, it all still tastes like chicken, but I don't want to cover that up.

In a week or two, I will have so many tomatoes and so many zucchini that I will be sick of them in the same way I am now sick of rhubarb, and will be looking for any way to get rid of them.  But for now, I want to enjoy them in their purist form.

This, in my mind, is the perfect summer meal, followed by the perfect summer leftover meal:

Yup.  We were eating outside.  It got dark.

Grilled Chicken with Summer Herbs
(serves two with leftovers)

• 1 chicken (3 to 4 lbs) cut into serving pieces and patted dry (L)
•  2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp kosher or sea salt
• 1 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chopped (L*)
• 1 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped (L*)
• 1 tbsp fresh garlic scapes, finely chopped (L)
• 1 tsp thyme, finely chopped (L*)
• 1/4 tsp rosemary, finely chopped (L*)

Combine all ingredients except chicken, then massage into chicken skin.  Allow to sit about 15-25 minutes.  Grill over medium/medium high heat about 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Grilled Zucchini
(recipe is per person)

• 1 small zucchini (L*)
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• Salt and fresh ground pepper.

Cut ends off of zucchini, then quarter length wise. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and grill just briefly (about 3-5 minutes each side depending on how thick they are) until the pieces are warm all the way through but are still basically raw on the inside.

Grilled Corn 
 (Don't tell my orthodontist!)

Throw corn on grill still in husks.  Grill for about 10 minutes, rotating for 2-3 minutes, until husk is well charred.  I usually do this before cooking anything else, and then move the corn to the top grill rack away from direct heat and let them sit there while everything else cooks.  If you want to do the corn all at once, it will probably need 15 to 20 minutes total over direct heat to be done.

Tomatoes and Cucumbers.

Slice.  Season with salt.  Eat.

The other half of not wanting to do too much cooking wise in the summer is that it does take time, and I there is always so much to do.  So, it's also important to use whatever I have in the best way possible.  So, I thought I could start giving you some of my leftover recipes as well.  I'm sure I've said it before, but not wasting food is the best way to keep your food budget low.  I know that I personally don't want to eat the same thing two days in a row, so if I can make something that involves a little bit of work the day before, and then use it to make something involving almost no work the next day, I'm not only able to use up all the food and save money, but I also get to be lazy on day two.  The official name for this recipe is "Cottage Breakfast," because it's what my family eats for breakfast when we're at our cottage.  It's basically an egg scramble of whatever you had for dinner the day before.  It doesn't have to be for breakfast, though.  I do love eggs for dinner.  This recipe is basically a road map.  Anything can be substituted for anything else...  Except the eggs.


Leftover Egg Scramble/Cottage Breakfast
(2 big servings)
Total time: 20 minutes

Clockwise from top: Tomatoes, chives, sage, chicken, mozz,
oregano

• 5 eggs, lightly whisked (L)
• 1 medium potato (L)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup water, vegetable, or chicken stock (I used water... so... L?)
• 2 tbsp butter, divided (L)
• 1/2 cup cooked meat - in this case chicken - chopped or shredded into bite size pieces (L)
• 1/4 cup vegetables - in this case tomatoes.  I would have used the zucchini too, but we ate it all the night before (L)
• 1/4 cup cheese, in this case mozzarella (L)
• Fresh herbs if you want.  I used chives, sage, and oregano.
• Salt and pepper

These potatoes are boiling too hard.

 Cut potato into bite sized cubes.  Place in a large, shallow frying pan over medium heat, and pour in 1/4 cup water or stock.  Bring to a simmer, and allow to cook.  Do not cover.  The liquid should evaporate as the potatoes cook, and they should be fork tender and ready to eat at the same time that there is no more liquid in the pan.  If the liquid is evaporating too quickly and the potatoes are not cooked through, add more liquid a tablespoon or two at a time.  Once the liquid is completely evaporated, add 1 tbsp butter and saute potatoes until they are lightly browned and crisp on all sides. 

Add remaining tbsp of butter, and all additional ingredients, stirring to combine and to scramble eggs.  Turn heat to medium.  Cook, stirring constantly, until eggs are cooked through and cheese starts to melt.