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Ugly Fruit

RoundTart
I watched two incongruent, yet weirdly related, videos this month that have incessantly occupied my thoughts. The first was a Netflix special featuring a well-known stand-up comedian who performed a sketch about God being annoyed with humans for digging up fossil fuel to mass-produce food rather than eating the stuff He’d left for them all over the ground. Human’s excuse for this behavior? The food on the ground doesn’t come fast enough, and it arrives cold.
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Wild Card Wednesdays

Truth in advertising: eating seasonally requires an attitude adjustment.

Truth in advertising: eating seasonally requires an attitude adjustment.

A lot of people think eating only local, seasonal food means sacrifice, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Oh heck, this isn’t Pinterest, this is reality, so I’ll come clean: the uneven spacing of our Thursday/ Saturday farmer’s market lends itself to rather dicey Wednesday meals. Let’s just say we aren’t very good a pacing ourselves. By mid-week we’ve concocted every recipe we can think of using the best of our weekend haul and the limp, left-over, non sequitur veg laying around can be difficult to assemble into something that meets the minimum standard of ‘a meal.’

This rather odd assembly would be spinach, scape pesto, & an over easy egg. You probably should avoid dinner at our house on Wednesdays.

This rather odd assembly would be spinach, scape pesto,
& an over easy egg. You probably should avoid dinner
at our house on Wednesdays.

We call our situation “Wild Card Wednesday.” We just never know what the heck we’re going to come up with.

Local Living Reality #1: Creativity, resourcefulness, and good humor are essential traits for local living.
Local Living Reality #2: Adventure is always on the menu.
Local Living Reality #3: Meat will not necessarily always be on the menu.
At the heart of our 10-mile challenge is the ambition to live deliciously and joyfully at the local level and share the experience with anyone curious enough to wonder. Even Especially on Wild Card Wednesdays. So instead of glossing over these seasonal and local living challenges, I’ve decided to spotlight them.

Helpful Tips To Keep In Mind: 1) Nearly anything wrapped in pastry crust becomes instantly delicious. 2) If all else fails, dice up whatever leftover veg you have and throw it together with an egg. Meal accomplished.

WILD CARD WEDNESDAY RECIPE
July 3rd Wild Card Wednesday Meal: Potato and Onion Tart with Roasted Veg (also with onion)
Wild Card Wednesday meals may include onions. With a side of onions.

Wild Card Wednesday meals may include onions. With a side of onions.

What we had on hand: four small (wrinkly) red potatoes, 1 small tomato, a handful of asparagus and snap peas, a small red onion, a small white onion, locally-made Wake Robin Farm Mona Lisa cheese, eggs, milk, our herb garden. On-hand, Non-local ingredients used: flower, sugar, butter, salt, olive oil

The Roasted Veg
Clean and chop whatever available veg you have, toss in olive oil, salt lightly, and broil about 10 minutes, turning frequently.

The Tart Dough
 1 ½ cup of flour
¼ cup of sugar
1 cup cold butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water
pinch of salt
1.     Put flour and a pinch of salt in a mixer with a paddle attachment.
2.     Turn mixer on low and slowly add the butter cubes until thoroughly incorporated.
3.     Add one egg yolk.
4.     Slowly drip in cold water, just enough to form a dough.
5.     Wrap dough and refrigerate for 15 minutes
6.     Roll the dough out until it forms a large, thin circle. Place on a flat cookie sheet.

The Tart Filling
 4 potatoes
1 small onion
½ cup of cheese
1 egg yolk
splash of milk
stalk of rosemary
1.     Preheat oven to 360 degrees F
2.     Thin slice the potatoes, put in a pan, and add water until they are just covered. Boil until just soft.
3.     Slice the onion and chop the rosemary. Set aside.
4.     In a bowl, mix cheese, egg yolk, rosemary, and a splash of milk.
5.     Arrange potatoes on the rolled-out dough, leaving about an inch all the way around.
6.     Pinch the dough edges together all the way around to form a wide, shallow “bowl”.
7.     Gently pour the liquid mixture evenly over the potatoes.
8.     Arrange the onions on top.
–> Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
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Strawberries, 5 ways

Berry Harvest Farm Strawberries

Berry Harvest Farm Strawberries

I love this fleeting moment of summer when strawberries abound with the promise of deliciousness enough to make our bellies ache. I love strawberries with The Girl’s Perfect Whipped Cream. Or with

bucketRowice cream. Or yogurt. Or on a salad. Or as-is by the handful, good grief, it’s all good to me.

 Confession: I’ve never picked strawberries before. So when on Sunday I woke feeling antsy I trekked out for berry-patches unknown, determined to find a U-Pick establishment friendly towards newbies.  I found the perfect spot: Berry Harvest Farm in Cato, owned and operated by Alvin and MarySue Stever and son. MarySue herself manned the check-in/check-out tent and good-naturedly inaugurated me to U-pick customs. I took her bucket and followed the long row, realizing too late that it was flat-out goofy to have lugged my gigantic purse out into the middle of a strawberry field. Newbie.
Picking strawberries is a surprisingly illuminating activity. I learned a lot out there in the Berry Harvest Farm berry patch:
Strawberries with strong personalities.

Strawberries with strong personalities.

  •        It is hot as blazes in the middle of a strawberry patch.
  • The best strawberries are shy and try to hide.
  • The thrill of hunting the next “perfect” strawberry appeals strongly to my OCD tendencies and goes a long way in making me forget the puking-hot sun.
  • I have an affinity for strawberries with strong personalities.
  • Strawberries I’ve picked taste perfect.
Here are the results of my Berry Harvest Farm strawberry-picking excursion (recipes below):
Strawberry, banana, and white chocolate muffins.

Strawberry, banana, and white chocolate muffins.

Strawberry Feta salad

Strawberry Feta salad 

Peasant strawberry tart

Peasant strawberry tart

Strawberry smoothie

Strawberry smoothie

Strawberry lemonade

Strawberry lemonade

RECIPES:

PEASANT STRAWBERRY TARTS
Strawberry Filling
2 cups of strawberries
after thinly sliced
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp flour
Directions: Put berries in a bowl and toss with the flour and sugar and set aside.
Pastry

1 + 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup cold butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water
A pinch of salt
Directions:
1.     Put the flour, sugar, butter and salt in a mixer with the paddle attachment and mix at low speed until thoroughly incorporated.
2.     Add the egg yolk and drip in cold tap water. Continue to mix on low until a dough forms.
3.     Gather the dough together and form into a disc. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
4.     Preheat the oven to 360°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5.     Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into 4 – 6 portions depending on how big you want each tart.
6.     Roll out each portion of dough until thin. Pace the rounds of dough on the baking sheet.
7.     Put 3-4 large tablespoons of strawberry filling in the center of each round, leaving a half-inch border around the edges.
8.     Roughly pinch the edges of the dough together around the filling, leaving the center open.
9.     Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden.
STRAWBERRY, BANANA, & WHITE CHOCOLATE MUFFINS
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 very ripe banana
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup strawberries, diced small
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Directions:
1.     Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a mini muffin tin with mini muffin liners. Set aside.
2.     Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3.     In a separate bowl, stir milk, sugar, butter, eggs, and banana.
4.     Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.
5.     Add strawberries and white chocolate chips and gently fold in.
6.     Fill the muffin liners 3/4 full with the batter.
7.     Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes.
STRAWBERRY FETA SALAD
Garden Greens, crumbled feta, sliced strawberries, balsamic dressing
STRAWBERRY SMOOTHY
Strawberry smoothie: Combine Wake Robin Farm yogurt and fresh strawberries in food processer. Whisk Wake Robin vanilla yogurt in a bowl and pour into the bottom third of a glass; gently pour over strawberry smoothie, top with remaining vanilla yogurt.
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Good Karma Garlic

Good Karma Garlic

On October 11th The Husband and I made our final journey to the Skaneateles Farmer’s Market, lamenting the insufferable shortness of Upstate New York’s growing season. What a delicious summer we had! And what passionate and inspiring people we met. And yet, here we were, at the end.
Since practically everything The Husband and I cook contains garlic (for which we are staunchly unapologetic), and since the folks at Good Karma Garlic grow the very best in our region, we bee-lined to their table to stock up.
“You should come out to the house and see what we’ve been up to,” Marty said with a twinkle in his eye. “We’re experimenting with ways to extend the growing season.”
Extend the growing season? Experiments? Yes, Marty, we will come.
Just four years ago, inspired by Chester Aaron’s book Garlic is Life, Good Karma Garlic’s Barb and Marty purchased and planted a variety pack of garlic bulbs. Just for fun.  They planted a second crop from the resulting bounty. Then a third. Four short years later their gardening hobby has blossomed into a fresh-food family farmette of garlic, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce greens, beans, melons and much more from which The Husband and I – and many fortunate others in our area – happily feast.
And now there’s a hoop house.
“We want to see if we can grow our food through late fall and be the first to market in the spring,” Marty said. Inside the warmth of the hoop house we found growing newly-planted rows of peas, carrots, salad greens and beets.  We mentioned to Marty how happy all this made us considering The Husband and my plans to take up canning and food preservation to carry us through the winter never actually materialized, and he immediately shared with us his tried-and-true tips for canning. Once again proving food is in his soul.
Now that their property is transforming into large garden patches, and Good Karma Garlic’s reputation for providing real food to the region is spreading, Marty and Barb have new plans for next season: they hope to start a long season, short season, and working share CSA. “We love growing things; it’s weeding we don’t really care for,” Marty confessed. Many hands make light work, and many folks eager to reap the benefits of locally-grown food will likely keep the gardens of Good Karma Garlic beautifully weed-free.
Garlic husks.
Thousands planted;
thousands more to go.
Because we can all use a little good karma in our lives.






To learn more about Good Karma Garlic’s 2013 CSA plans and farmer’s market schedule, contact them on Facebook.
























Garlic & olive oil @ 400 degrees
 for 45 minutes.
Spread on toast.


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The Humble Radish, 3 Ways

The humble radish.
Not long ago I made a peevish reference to radishes in a post and received reader comments and e-mails suggesting I’d missed the point – that radishes are not the bitter, moody root I made them out to be.
 
I wondered: have I paid this veg its proper due? Maybe not. Perhaps there were other applications for the peppery raphanus sativus aside from the radish rose. I googled ‘radish recipe’ and got more than three million results; this was going to take awhile, particularly since the recipe would have to conform to the 10-mile Challenge. And also not taste disgusting. I hunted through scores of sites and from that endeavor the following three dishes came to pass.
In the process I learned a lot about the radish. Did you know they are an excellent source of vitamin C, fiber, folic acid, and potassium? And radishes have a long history of medicinal uses, particularly for an upset stomach? That ancient tomb paintings show black radishes being used as payment in Egypt during the construction of the pyramids? Or that radishes were so highly regarded in ancient Greece that wealthy aristocrats wore little gold radish replicas around their neck for good luck?
Now you know.
Radish Soup.
Radish Soup
Of the three recipes we made this is my favorite. Turns out radish soup, at least in this configuration, is utterly delicious. The yogurt adds a wonderful creamy element that cools the root’s heat. My soup didn’t turn out the pretty pink color depicted on the recipe link because I used my own vegetable stock which is quite dark and hearty. Yes, the recipe turned out so tasty I will make this soup again. (quick note: I added the potato back into the broth before pureeing it as opposed to separating them as instructed in the recipe.) See the Recipe.
Ingredient Sources:
potato and onion: Horsford Farms, Weedsport NY
bay leaf: from The Husband’s herb garden
vegetable stock: mine! Made entirely from farmer’s market vegetables a few weeks ago then vacuum sealed in 1 cup batches and frozen;
yogurt: Wake Robin Farms, Jordan, NY
radish: from the garden of my friend Karen. Many thanks!



Raw Root and Cucumber Salad.
Raw Root and Cucumber Salad
This crunchy salad is not just quick and easy it also makes excellent use of what is in season at the market: carrots, cucumber and, of course, radishes. There is such an abundance of these vegetables right now that they are very inexpensive, so this salad cost pennies to make. We’re sure to make it again many times this summer as an easy, inexpensive veg- accompaniment for whatever else we’re cooking. Incidentally, had I any apple on hand I would have julienned it and tossed it in this salad for a sweet element. Here is the Recipe.
Ingredient Sources:
cucumber and radish: Hobbit Hollow Farm, Skaneateles, NY
apple cider vinegar: Owen Orchards, Weedsport, NY. This was an exciting find at last week’s farmer’s market! Really delicious vinegar for summer cooking.  
Roasted radish with black pepper and balsamic vinegar.
Roasted Radish
We followed the advice of readers and roasted ourselves a batch of radish grown by Hobbit Hollow Farms in Skaneateles. The Husband tossed the root in oil, sprinkled lightly with salt and baked until soft. I didn’t care for the squishy interior when the veg was done so he gave them a quick pan-searing and topped them with ground pepper. What people say about roasted radishes is absolutely true: it brings out the root’s natural sugars and eradicates the bitter flavor I’ve always associated with radish.
Ready for the oven.
These are three humble offerings among endless possible recipes. They’ve helped change my mind about radishes. The root is a lovely thing fresh from the ground, so different from the leather-skinned horrors I’ve encountered in the past. I’ve decided to give other hated vegetables another go. Maybe. Next on the list: Brussels sprout. Thankfully I’ve got a few more months to prepare before those awful interesting things are in season.

Karen’s radishes.

 



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Yummy Grub

An October Rose broiler.

“Is that all you get to eat now?” a colleague asked me the other day as I munched on my customary jar salad lunch in the break room. I don’t volunteer updates about our 10-mile challenge outside this blog on account of people’s circumspect reaction, like they’re afraid I might share an un-flattering opinion about their food choices or worry I’m on the cusp of selling them Amway. But as my own eating habits have changed conspicuously and food is something people are oddly inclined to notice and inquire about, word has gotten out. “I couldn’t do it,” she added. “Bland food just isn’t my thing.”
Bland food isn’t my thing, either.  I think the biggest shortcoming in the buy-local-and-fresh movement is that its evangelists often fail to give flavor equal billing with the health and economic benefits, especially when flavor — more than any other value — will ultimately win over the masses. Me, I ignore these overplayed topics. Nobody likes being told what to eat or where to shop so I focus instead on what truly matters: yummy grub. Simply put, eating local and in-season is very delicious.
Byrne Angus beef plus green bean 
salad and cornmeal squash croquettes.  
But there are hazards.
Take last Saturday for example. I arrived late to the Skaneateles Farmers Market to discover all that was left were summer squash, green beans and radishes. That’s it. In season, sure, except I’ve hated summer squash and green beans since childhood and I don’t even know what radishes are good for except to be carved into little veggie tray roses that everyone thinks are cute and nobody actually eats. But the market is where I acquire most of my food so in desperation I bought all one vendor’s remaining summer squash and a quart of green beans from another; I passed on the radishes because a girl’s got to draw the line somewhere.
Meadowood Farms lamb kobobs
As I drove home it dawned on me that maybe this eat local idea was crap and dinner was definitely going to suck.
I should have anticipated The Husband’s unflinching acceptance of my paltry offering. He pulled a couple Byrne Angus steaks out of the freezer, consulted the Internet, and whipped up a summer green bean salad and a batch of cornmeal squash croquettes. Delicious. Saving the day. Reminding me not to judge food by past mutilations.
The Husband’s lamb, spinach and
homemade pasta dish made with
Meadowood Farms lamb sausage.
So yeah, my colleague was right: my family is eating lots of salad this summer. Lots. But tons of other stuff, too. Turns out this experiment has nothing to do with depravation or returning to some romantic time of old. It’s about luxury – making fresh, delicious food in good company; working together in a space that now serves a greater purpose than propping up the night’s pizza box.
I’m convinced no girl in the history of humankind has ever had food so good.

Evenings in the kitchen with The Girl have been plain awful.
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How Does Your Garden Grow?

A pallet garden, under construction.

Let me tell you about a serendipitous chain of gardening events that happened to us last weekend: we got an Ace Hardware post card in Friday’s mail announcing free gardening work- shops in Skaneateles Saturday morning. We already had plans for Syracuse First’s CashMob in the city at noon so squeezing in a workshop beforehand was just crazy talk. But, darn it, the Ace line-up included a demonstration by Jackie Coyle on pallet gardens and I’ve been super curious about those things. So we went with crazy.
Jackie Coyle describes the
process of constructing a
pallet garden at Ace Hard-
ware in Skaneateles, NY
Jackie Coyle loves what she does,
and it shows.
     What a cool last-second decision that turned out to be! Jackie, an Ace staff member and an ornamental horticultural student at SUNY Oswego, showed us how to use an inexpensive weed blocking fabric to form the base of our pallet garden and gave us tips on the types of plant that would flourish in this environment. Lettuce greens, for example, would be happily at home in our box, Jackie said.
Lou Lego gives a spring
gardening class at Elderberry
Pond Farm, Auburn NY
     As fate would have it we were already RSVP’d for Elderberry Pond’s spring garden workshop on Sunday afternoon and that lesson focused on – what else – growing spring salad greens! Far be it from us to ignore the Universe’s call to get moving with our own spring garden. We worked this week on putting together our pallet garden and planting basil and lettuce. 
The Husband and I try our hand
at pallet gardening.
     Thank you, Skaneateles Town Square Ace, for the complimentary pallets, and thank you, Jackie Coyle and Lou Lego, for the excellent gardening tips. We’ll keep you posted on how things progress with our Pallet Gardens On The Deck. 
     To be continued…

GARDENING TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS


Lou Lego, Elderberry Pond Farm, Auburn, NY

“Plant smaller batches of the same vegetable in succession – about 10 days apart – and have a continuous supply of fresh produce all summer long.” – Lou Lego

Jackie Coyle, Ace Hardware,
Skaneateles, NY

“Lettuce plants have shallow roots and want to live in soil that holds moisture well, making them perfect candidates for a pallet garden. Don’t forget to water them daily!” – Jackie Coyle

            
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Bread

It’s no secret: I’m seeking pathways out of the mess that is the typical American diet. In November I stumbled upon the documentary How to Cook Your Life and was immediately intrigued by the idea of bread making as a form of communion and meditation. A very kum ba yah notion for an agnostic like me to be sure. But when the Husband sent the two of us off to a bread making class at a nearby culinary center the meditative properties of this activity emerged. Like meditation, bread making is about concentration. Creating good bread – bread with the desired color, structure, elasticity, moistness and crumb – requires the maker to focus on the environment in which the bread is being constructed. Humidity, temperature, and the individual characteristics of each ingredient play a part in the quality of the finished piece; balanced bread is achieved when the maker has allowed him or herself to work in harmony with these variables.
Bread making as a communal act has proven itself in the months since our class. While the Husband is the primary bread maker, I am his ever-present audience. I love watching bread being made; I’m irresistibly drawn to the process. I love that he knows by feel when to incorporate more of an ingredient and that he decides only after the dough has developed what type of loaf it wants to be.  It is gratifying when the fifteen year old emerges from her bedroom like a cartoon character floating out on a visible aroma and asks, “Is that Daddy’s bread I smell?” And I love when we gather around and share the bounty together like mankind has been doing for 30,000 years.
Besides all that, bread smells amazing and tastes even better (I cringe over the stuff we used to buy at the grocery store). And we appreciate the benefits of creating our own food. Yesterday the Husband very sweetly let me record him making next week’s lunch loaves. Our video, Bread, shows this four and a half-hour process condensed down into a playful 5-minute fast motion clip.  Enjoy! 
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