Now We're Just Showing Off...

Menu: Cibola Farms Bison Hot Dogs wrapped in Torpedo onions and beet greens from Tree and Leaf Farm and topped with Fields of Grace Gouda and homemade Green Tomato Ketchup. Tomatoes on the side from Bull Run Mountain Farm (also the source of the green tomatoes) with Fields of Grace mozzarella. The buns are Homemade from Moutoux Orchard Whole Wheat Flour.

The hot dogs were excellent; the inch-plus wide links come fully cooked and had enough flavor that we did not feel like we were eating something meant for kids. I halved the torpedo onions and wrapped some of the larger shells around the dogs before putting them in the frying pan with a bit of water. They are good onions, but I undercooked them and had a hard time biting through the thick pieces.   The beet greens were intended to add a bit of astringency to the dish. The raw milk Gouda was perfect for this, I put it on at the end so it would melt just a touch. Fields of Grace’s Mozzarella is the pre-packaged low-moisture kind and I must confess a strong preference for the fresh variety. Still, F of G’s is far better than any store-bought version and I would love to try it on a pizza sometime.

For the buns I used a fairly straightforward recipe for an old issue of Cooking Light (I checked the site and can’t find it there, so no link) which i have used again and again with various flours in different proportions. This time I used 100% whole wheat flour from Moutoux. It was a little dense since it was all whole-wheat, but rose and baked well. It is a bit more coarse than, say, King Arthur’s w.w. flour. The only real quibble that I have with Moutoux is that the paper bags the flour comes in are a bit too thin! One more sharp turn on the way home and I might have floured the car. I will get their flour again, but will bring some appropriate plastic tub with me to put it in right away.

Now We're Just Showing Off...

The Menu:

• Hot Dogs:  Cibola Farms Bison Dogs
• Onions:  Tree and Leaf Farm torpedo Onions
• Cheese: Fields of Grace
• Buns: Homemade from Moutoux Whole Wheat Flour
• Tomatoes: Bull Run Mountain CSA
• Green Tomato Ketchup: Homemade from Bull Run CSA tomatoes

It’s Labor Day weekend.  The time we take off from work and cook meat over an open fire.  There’s no reason you can’t have an amazing locavore Labor Day!   I definitely think it would be overboard for most people to make their own hotdog buns from locally grown and milled flour, but it’s not a stretch to get locally, humanely raised hotdogs.  Labor Day weekend is the perfect time to share the joy of eating local.  People will be asking where you got the amazing burgers, and you can tell them with relish. (pun intended)

Almost all farmers markets have vendors that sell locally raised beef, chicken, lamb, and pork.  Cibola farms, who we used gives you the chance to try bison burgers – how awesome is that?  Needless to say you can also get just about any kind of cheese you’d like too. If your cookout is Sunday or Monday, there is plenty of time to head to the market!

What’s on your grill this weekend?

Beetza is the flavor sensation that is rockin' the nation

Too hot to use the oven, so I fired up the grill. Whole wheat crust made form Raphine Mill flour, beets from Bloomingdale farmers market, Goat cheese from Cherry Glen Farm, fennel from Bull Run Mountain farm. Wood from my shop and the neighbor’s oak tree

Aug 23 Market Buys

One of the comments we hear a lot is  … so, the gooseberries are great and all, but I can’t make real meals just by shopping at the farmers markets.   And, even if I could, it would cost a fortune!

Well, we’re here to dispel those myths and show you how it can be done.  This week, my CSA brought me corn, summer squash, tomatoes, lettuce, and peaches.  At the market (see above), I bought peaches, pluots, eggplant, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, pimientos (the little red peppers), basil, chives, dandelion greens, sweet potato ravioli, garlic lingini, bread, mozarella cheese, and blackberry ice cream (Dolcezza is totally worth the $6 splurge!).  Here’s my plan for the week:

Monday: Summer squash and corn soup with chives and pimientos (good for a couple of lunches, too) and bread

Tuesday: Sweet potato ravioli (purchased from Smith Meadows Farms) with bell pepper and tomato sauce and feta (purchased last week at the 14th St Market)

Wednesday: Tomato/Basil/Mozarella sandwiches on toasted bread with green salad w/ peaches

Thursday: Linguini w/ feta, summer squash, and herbs (good for a couple lunches, too)

Friday: Scrambled eggs w/ dandelion greens and sweet potato hash

Saturday: Corn on the cob, panzanella (tomato, mozarella, and bread) salad, and blackberry ice cream

So, for $80 ($20 CSA, $60 market), I will make 6 dinners and ~4 lunches for myself and my husband.   That works out to $4/meal/person for local, mostly organic, super-healthy meals.  And, for snacks, I have plenty of fruit, and will make baba ganoush from the eggplant.

As you can see, I am a vegetarian most of the time.  I’ll buy fish 2-3 times per month, and cook with meat (small pieces in a larger veggie meal) maybe once a month.   If you’re more of a carnivore, there are many meat sellers at the markets.  You could add ground meat to the pasta dishes, or add some sausage links to the eggs and hash dinner, raising the price to $5-6/meal.

Tomatoes, Pluots and ... Cookies in the nomming bowl? How did those get there?

It was HOT today, but that didn’t seem to slow things down at the Takoma Park farmers market.  It was one of the biggest crowds I’ve seen all summer.   We (me and Art D.)  didn’t have a shopping list,  so there was nothing on the agenda to find today — other than fill the “nomming” bowl, of course.  And fill it we did.

The Pluots (plum/apricot) from Blackrock Orchard were one of the first things that really our attention today.  They looked yummy and ripe.  I’ve been hearing about pluots in the media lately because of the new book by Chip Brantley: The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds, and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot.   Yes, there is now a book about the Pluot. Are these going to be the newest “it” food?  Will they become the pomegranate or bacon of 2010?  Only time will tell!

Tomatoes were fantastic again this week too.  It was a veritable “tomato extravaganza!”

Tomato Extravaganza...Sunday! SunDAY! SUNDAY!!

Potomac Vegetable Farm had an amazing selection (photo above), in all colors shapes and sizes.  To be fair, a lot of the vendors did — but PVF had the best sign and they are who we bought from this week.   Plus, they were cutting up lots of yummy samples for me to taste.  One of the employees was even helping promote the tomatoes by chomping down on a HUGE yellow tomato like it was an apple.

We were also happy to see J&L Edleman Homestead Farms back — they were missing a couple of weeks ago.  I picked up a couple of their great “snack size” cantaloupes.  They are always really sweet and the small size makes them less threatening.  Don’t judge me. 

Finally, of course, we get to the cookies.  One of the great things about Takoma Park Farmers Market is the community atmosphere.  Kids were having a bake sale to raise money for two charities, and well — it was chocolate chip cookies!   We bought a half-dozen and into the “nomming” bowl they went!  And then promplty into our stomachs.

Pretty Tomatoes at the Takoma Park Farmers Market

I’ve been hearing lots about the problems with tomato blight, so I was really  hoping that there would still be fresh tomatoes at the farmers’ market today — and I was not disappointed.  I only had one recipe for the week that required tomatoes, but does that really matter?   I found all manner of tomatoes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.  I was on the hunt for cherry tomatoes and love that they have party-colored pints at several stands. There’s also plenty of good ole red ones for those that are into that classic look. 

I also found plenty of  my new love — cantaloupe.  It’s not something I like a couple of years ago, but somehow my tastebuds have decided that fresh cantaloupe is a good thing.  I bet all I’d had before was cantaloupe that had been picked pre-peak so it would ship, and had never really reached its full sugar sweetness.   I find that I like the little “snack size” ones the best. Last week I grabbed an ambrosia cantaloupe from L &J Homestead Farm.  This week Homestead was noticeably absent (hope they’re okay), so I picked up some from Waterpenny Farm.  I got an ambrosia and something else, which I can’t remember the name of!

I also have to mention how awesome it is that the market was packed in the pouring rain.  Okay, it was mostly drizzling with short downpours — but it’s still great.  There’s nothing wrong with getting a little wet in the summer people!  It’s refreshing, right?

The exciting find today was Methley Plums!  These plums are about the size of a GIAHUGIC berry.  Only way I can think to describe the size.  They are way smaller than normal plums,  and you can just pop them right in your mouth.  They were an interesting addition to Art D.’s “nom’ing bowl” today.  Several vendors had them at Takoma Park, but we got ours from Blackrock Orchard who also had great looking blueberries.

For a size comparison here’s the nom’ing bowl filled with blueberries and Methley plums.

We (me and Art D.) also picked up some fresh corn, milk from Clear Springs Creamery, and fresh tiny apricots!  It’s going to be a yummy week.

Three Great Tastes, by Art D.

At this point in the Summer one of our most common CSA meals is what you see here. I’ll get home, chop a few potatoes into eight or so pieces, peel a head of garlic, then add rosemary. Toss it all with some olive oil, salt and pepper, then throw it on a baking sheet  covered with parchment. Roasted at 400 for 30 minutes. Quick, easy , and filling.

Here’s what we got this week:

• Kohlrabi
• cabbage
• Red lettuce mix
• garlic scapes
• basil
• radishes
• purslane
• shiso
• epazote
• Ornamental hot pepper plant

Early in his CSA career, our farmer would sometimes have to glean the fields of purslane to make shares. Now he grows it from seed.

Purslane is a succulent, tangy green best known for being a weed.  But it is a very tasty weed. Stems and leaves can be used, preferably raw, to add a bit of a lemony flavor to salads. Some sources say that this, and not parsley,  was the green originally used in tabbouleh.

What did you get this week?