Wyoming Avenue Farmer's Market

Weekends seem to be the most popular days for farmer's markets out here in the Cincinnati suburbs.  Our Saturday's have been filled to the brim with activities and committments that we haven't made it to a single market this summer.  I miss them--and we went often last summer--so when I suggested to Tim that we go to the Wyoming Avenue Farmer's Market on Tuesday, he quickly agreed.

There were a half dozen or so vendors, with various products ranging from gelato to baked goods to fresh produce.  Tim picked out a few watermelon zucchini, some summer squash, and raspberries.  I was looking for some pickling cucumbers but when I asked a vendor she smiled and told me what I already knew--the cold, rainy spring weather has put most of the vegetables back 2 or 3 weeks or maybe more.  I smiled back and told her that I'd return to buy a bunch in a few weeks.  And I meant it. 

Tim's favorite vendor was the Fire Side Pizza Wagon.  They actually bring their own brick oven--on a wagon--to the location and cook pizzas to order.

We ordered the Greek pizza and shopped around while we waited for it to be ready.  The original plan was to take the pizza home to eat it, but it was so fragrant and hot that we sat on a park bench next to the market and ate it right away.

The toppings were salty and bright and the crust was thin and crisp.  It was one of the better pizza's I've eaten recently and I'm always up for impromptu picnicking, especially in such good company. 

Equal Opportunity Gelato Consumers

How was your St. Patrick's day? 

I'm wondering what you were up to yesterday because it seems like everywhere I went there were people wearing green t-shirts, green knee socks and drinking suspiciously green beverages.  I, too, sported a green sweater, though I'm aware it was a weak attempt at partaking in the holiday.  I did consume a green beverage (margarita on the rocks) and watch some Sons of Anarchy (SAMCRO has quite a few Irish connections) but neither of those really made me feel like shouting, "Kiss me! I'm pretending to be Irish!" 

What can I say--I'm not Irish and I kind of don't get it.  I suspect part of it has to do with the fact that St. Patty's fell on a weekday this year and frankly, I am having a tough week at work.  My heart wasn't into the celebration.  I will do better next year--maybe even cook up some homemade corned beef.

On the other hand, Tim was a little more in the spirit.  While green beer wasn't on his agenda either, he did surprise me with a small St. Patrick's Day gift from Findlay Market.

 

Guinness flavored gelato from Dojo Gelato and a set of 4 gelato spades*.  What a gift!  The spades make so much sense for eating gelato, particularly pints that sit in the freezer and won't have that softness that you get from fresh.

The Guinness flavor was surprising and subtle.  There was a dark earthiness that I didn't expect and I could definitely tell that it was Guinness.  It wasn't savory--it was definitely dessert--but I appreciated the complexity of the contrast between the dark beer and what was likely vanilla gelato.  It was simple and smooth and did pump a little Irish into our day. 

Just to be clear--I am an equal opportunity gelato consumer--so please check out Dojo's and Madisono's blogs for their seasonal flavors.

*Oh, and the spades were purchased from Dojo's booth at Findlay Market.

The Middle Menu

Last weekend, Tim and I went to Findlay Market.  As we were waiting for our made to order breakfast from Helen's Grill, we started talking about Thanksgiving.  We chatted about what our plans were, what houses we were going to be visiting, and what we were supposed to bring.  As if he were struck with brilliance, Tim suddenly suggested, "How about we have Thanksgiving at our house?"

And, in other great coincidences (or not coincidences), right next to Helen's Grill is Luken's Fish, Poultry, and Seafood, who had one beautiful turkey left in the display case.  We had purchased some excellent scallops from Luken's a few weeks prior and have heard great reviews about the quality of their products.  So after we finished eating, we walked out of Findlay market with, among many other things, a turkey. 

Since then, I have been brainstorming with the Dayton branch of Tim's family about the menu.  We've gotten as far as Tim vetoing roasted brussel sprouts, Tim's brother offering to bring all starches, and I know I can count on Tim's mom to bring some amazing Amish bread.  That leaves me (and Tim...but mostly me) to prepare the vegetables, appetizers, and desserts. 

There will be just 8 of us, including 1 teenage vegetarian and 2 littler kids, which means the choices need to be sophisticated but still approachable.  I want to make sure no one feels like our interpretation of Thanksgiving is too far from what is expected from Thanksgiving.  It's sort of a fine line between traditional and unconventional.  I want to find the middle ground--or more precisely, the middle menu.    

What's Happening Around Town This Weekend

Raise your hand if you're as happy as I am that it's Friday!  The last slice of the Monday Night Cake was eaten yesterday and boy-oh-boy am I ready for the weekend! 

If you are going to be in downtown Cincinnati today for lunch (or perhaps would love a reason to go), I have good news for you.  The newly launched Cooking Channel has created a one-of-a-kind ice cream truck to drive across the country and they are stopping in Cincinnati.  Even better, they are not just scooping any ice cream but serving Graeters ice cream for FREE.  If you want to check this out today (and with this heat, I can't think of anything more refreshing than ice cream), they will be serving ice cream from 12:30pm-1:45pm at the Scripps Center located at 312 Walnut Street.  It's only about 2 blocks from fountain square. 

If my recent posts have inspired you to seek out some fresh, local produce or meat, then check out your local farmer's market.  You can find a listing for all local markets at LocalHarvest.org.  Maybe you will find a market that you think I should check out?  If so, let me know!  Otherwise, I will be at the West Chester Farmer's Market bright and early tomorrow. 

Have a great weekend!

Welcome Back, Tomatoes

It goes without saying that summer is the best time for tomatoes.  Or do I have to say it?  Perhaps someone should tell a certain restaurant that they don't have to serve grainy, watery tomatoes in July.  Sure, they made up for it with fantastic happy hour prices and a view overlooking Fountain Square that no amount of lackluster tomatoes can overshadow.  But someone tell the chef if they want some good tomatoes, call me and I will send them to my vendor at the local farmer's market. 

It may have been raining all day today but summer was alive and well in my kitchen.  As I sliced into the tomatoes I picked up on Saturday, their deep red juices seeped out onto the cutting board, bleeding their perfect acidity and just begging me to eat a slice quickly and put them out of their juicy misery.  Oh summer, never leave me again.  How will I live without your tomatoes?

Those tomatoes were going into a Tomato and Roasted Eggplant Pie.  I picked up the recipe while I was in Virginia at a family reunion.  You know you're the family foodie when your mother-in-law, as soon as you get there, says, "I have a book of recipes you might be interested in!"

Why yes, I'm always interested!  (Thanks Ginny!)

I decided to go at this recipe full throttle.  It called for a baked pie shell so I wanted to make my own.  I can't remember where but I saw some bloggers using pastry recipes from Williams-Sonoma.  I got out my food processor, measured out the ingredients, the stars aligned, and voilà--a fantastic pie crust.  Tim said it was the best he'd ever had as far as flakiness and flavor.  He is the resident food critic, so I believe him. 

I sliced up the eggplant, tossed it with some olive oil, salt, & pepper and roasted it in the oven.  I also sautéed the onions until they were soft to avoid any raw onion flavor.  The tomatoes just got a thin slice and were added to the pie as is, and they were excellent.

The pecorino cheese and parmesan added a nice saltiness to the flavor and good contrast to the vegetables.  Except for the dough slipping down a bit, I can't imagine that this could have turned out any better.  In fact, this is the perfect summer vegetable pie.  The eggplant and tomato could easily be swapped out for zucchini, summer squash, peppers, potatoes, leafy greens, or even beets.  If you experiment with different combinations, please come back and tell me about it!

Tomato and Roasted Eggplant Pie
recipe adapted from Under the Texan Sun: Recipes from the Lone Star Wineries
serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 baked pie crust*
1 medium eggplant
2 medium onions
6-8 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated Pecorino cheese
plain greek yogurt (optional for serving)
basil leaves (optional for serving)

*Ingredients for the pie crust
recipe from Williams-Sonoma
1 1/4 cups unbleached flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, very cold
3-4 tbsp water, very cold

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  In a food processor, add the flour, sugar, and salt.  Pulse 2-3 times until well mixed.  Cut the butter into 1/4 inch cubes and add the butter to the food processor.  Pulse until the butter is broken down into small crumbles, but do not over mix.  The butter should be smaller than peas.  Add the water, one tablespoon at a time while running the food processor on a low speed.  When you've added the proper amount of water, the dough will come together, signaling you to stop mixing.

Moving the dough onto a well flour surface, form it into a ball.  Roll the dough out with a rolling pin until 1 inch larger than your pie dish.  Transfer dough to pie dish.  Trim off any excess dough hanging over the lip of the dish.  Line the pie dough with foil or parchment paper and fill the center with dry rice, beans, or pie weights until the pie shell is 2/3 full.  This will help to keep the dough from slipping down the sides.

Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and discard the weights and foil/parchment.  Using a fork, make holes in the bottom of the crust and along the sides.  Return the crust to the oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  Allow to cool to room temperature. 

Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F.  Slice the eggplant very thin.  Toss with olive oil, salt, & pepper and arrange in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Roast for 10-12 minutes or until the eggplant is lightly browned and soft, but not mushy.  Meanwhile, slice the onions thinly and sauté the onions for 5-7 minutes in 2 tbsp olive oil on medium-low in a dutch oven or non-stick skillet.  Do not brown the onions and adjust heat as needed.  Slice the tomatoes thinly and set aside on a paper towel to drain.  Mince the garlic and combine with 3 tbsp olive oil.  Set aside.

When the onions and eggplant are finished cooking, lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  Begin to assemble the pie.  Layer the half of the eggplant, tomato, onion, cheeses, and garlic-olive oil mixture in the pie shell.  Repeat with the second half of the ingredients.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and vegetables are well cooked. 

Serve a slice with a dollop of yogurt and a few torn basil leaves. 

*I'm entering this recipe into the July Culinary Smackdown.  I hope I'm the winner-winner-chicken-dinner!

West Chester Farmer's Market and Zucchini Without a Prayer

A Saturday morning at the West Chester Farmer's Market was exactly what I needed after indulgent weekends with friends.  Don't misunderstand, I adore my friends.  I miss them dearly.  Why do we all live so far apart from one another?  But my simple routine was completely off kilter.  There was no baking over the weekends with Tim.  There was no tending to our little garden.  There was no snuggling with the cutest puppy dogs ever.  And I missed Tim.  Our little life is a wonderful thing.

I admit I'd never been to a farmer's market before Saturday.  I have had the best of intentions to go, and in early May even drove up to South Lebanon a few times when I thought that their market might be open early.  Of course, it wasn't open, and then my early June weekends I was out of town, so this was my first opportunity.  I arrived around 9:30am and the area was already bustling with shoppers.  I had been given some advice by friends that you shouldn't take a grocery list with you but just go with what's fresh and available.  I did bring a little wish list of things I was hoping to find, and luckily, everything I wanted for the week was there. 

After perusing the farmer's market's website, I had two vendors in mind that I was particularly interested in checking out.  One was Blue Jacket Dairy.  A few weekends prior, Tim and I had been watching our local public broadcast channel and caught a special about local cheesemaking at Blue Jacket Dairy.  It was intriguing how this small, family operated business was turning traditional dairy farming into a specialty foods business.  With the local food and slow food movements expanding throught southwest and central Ohio, I was thrilled to see they were going to be at the market.  Their high quality gourmet cheese did not disappoint and I walked away with around $5 worth of each Ludlow cheese and Gretna Grilling cheese.

The other vendor I wanted to shop was Morning Sun Farm run by Dave and Evelyn Filbrun.  I was attracted to their booth because of the huge truck backed up to their stall and the long line of people waiting to purchase eggs and meat from them.  Their eggs are laid by free range, organic chickens and their selection of different organic poultry, pork, and lamb products was impressive.  They had all cuts of chicken available, and I was able to cross a whole chicken and a dozen eggs off my wish list.  Since this was one of the first booths I went to, I only had big bills.  The gentleman who was working the booth (perhaps it was Dave Filbrun?) was very polite and even offered samples of some sweet sausage they had warmed up on the table.  He asked me after I paid that if I had smaller bills when I finished shopping if I could bring him back some $1's or $5's.  About 20 minutes later, after I had purchased a zucchini, a big bunch of green onions, and some organic honey, I came back with some change.  The gentleman was so thankful that he gave me a package of frozen organic chicken wings at no charge. 

That's the beauty of doing business from person to person.  I will definitely be purchasing my meat from the market from here on out.  Not only is it better for my local agricultural industry (which is a big deal in Southwest Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana) but he made a big impact on me.  I highly suggest if you are in the Cincinnati area to check out the West Chester Farmer's Market and see if you can do some of your shopping person to person.  I think it will make an impact on you, too. 

While I'm saving the chicken for dinner this week, I did use the green onions in my Vegetable Pad Thai and I used the zucchini in this recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cakes with Pecans.  I'm pretty sure everyone has had zucchini in a quick bread, but I'd never had it paired with chocolate.  I know that Ashley over at Delish made some Mini Chocolate Zucchini Cakes of her own that I'd love to compare to this recipe.

While grating the zucchini I was wondering to myself how in the world this was going to taste!  Zucchini, while it is mild, definitely has a "green vegetable" flavor that is distinct when tasted alone.  When paired with 1 cup of sugar, zucchini just doesn't have a prayer of it's own flavor shining through.  While this is definitely not a healthy way to prepare zucchini, it is definitely a way to sneak vegetables into a dessert.  A nifty trick if you're like me and have a kid that won't even try something if she even slighlty suspects it won't taste good. 

I opted to top these with pecans but the original recipe called for walnuts.  For some reason Tim is rather picky about nuts and doesn't care for walnuts.  Personally, I don't find walnts and pecans all that different in flavor or texture.  I think if you left the nuts off completely, you would lose the little crunch that these bite size desserts need in order to be a more satisfying morsel.

I used semi-sweet chocolate chips rather than chopped bittersweet chocolate, and I think that was the right decision.  Without the semi-sweet chocolate, there isn't much intense chocolate flavor.  With the chips, they are very chocolately.  The texture was somewhere between a cupcake and a brownie and it was very easy to eat a bunch of them before you even realized they were half gone.  I suggest packing them up individually to ration them out before you eat all of them in one sitting!

This recipe also gave me a very good reason to use my mini muffin pan, which I've only used a handful of times to make very addictive Pepperoni Pizza Puffs.  In fact, Tim requested those Pizza Puffs this weekend, and that was what reminded me to make these Chocolate Zucchini Cakes! 

Chocolate-Zucchini Cakes with Pecans
adapted from Everyday Food Magazine
makes 24-30 mini cakes

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp course salt
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
3 tbsp sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
24-30 pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, stir together butter, sugar, salt, and egg until combined.  Add vanilla, grated zucchini, and sour cream.  Stir until incorporated.  Sift flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and stir until combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Spray mini muffin pan with cooking spray.  Fill each cup with batter until 3/4 full (about 2 tablespoons) and top with a pecan half.  Bake 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool slightly in pans on wire rack before serving. 

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.