Market Watch: What To Buy the Week of July 11th

Treasure from Persephone, Laughing Crow, and Hey Day Farms

Last Saturday was the 4th of July so there was no Farmer's Market. When this dawned on me earlier in the week, I plotzed.  With dishes promised for three parties, and out of town guests staying for the holiday, it was time to mobilize. First, take stock: Day Road Farm Stand open. Butler Green Farms CSA open Tuesday. Hey Day Farm Store open. But more will be needed. Fortunately Rebecca Slattery of Persephone Farm and Robin Bodony of Laughing Crow Farm came to my rescue.

My approach to planning meals is opposite the norm. Rather than deciding what I'm going to cook, and then hunting down ingredients, I load up on whatever is peaking and then build meals around it.  

Three things are looking particularly good right now: cauliflower, potatoes, and zucchini blossoms.

Before long we will be overloaded with zucchini, but right now there be zucchini blossoms! The color of the sun, delicate, and versatile, they make their way into salads and sauces. Commonly they are stuffed with cheese and herbs, fried or baked, and then topped with a sauce. I've done this many times, with queso fresco and tomatillos, or fresh mozzarella and smoked peppers.  

But, given the 90-degree temperatures, I wanted something cool and fresh. Since I was going to a sushi party, I veered off to Asia. I julienned snap peas, cucumber, purple carrot, and green onions, and minced cilantro and shiso leaves and tossed it all in a bowl. I cut thin slivers of avocado for a little richness and to hold it together.

Filling Persephone Farms Zucchini Blossoms With Goodness

For a nice dressing: put 1/8 cup each soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and canola oil in a half-pint mason jar.  Add a tablespoon of sesame oil, 1/2 teaspoon mustard, a few grinds of black pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper.  Peel a clove of garlic, smash it with the side of a knife and add it to the jar, along with three slivers of fresh ginger.  Screw on the lid, shake like crazy to blend, and refrigerate until ready to use.  (This dressing is also awesome with pot stickers, spring rolls, on a cold noodle salad, or drizzled on grilled salmon or chicken.)

To assemble, gently spread the leaves of the blossom and stuff in the vegetable mixture. Add an avocado slice, and drizzle about a teaspoon of dressing inside. (Discard the pieces of garlic and ginger.) Twist the petal tops together to seal, arrange on a plate and drizzle with more dressing.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Serve immediately.  

Stuffed Fresh Zucchini Blossoms with Edible Flowers and Shiso Leaves for Garnish

Unexpected, Fresh, and Delicious

Summer means burgers in our house (see post below) and burgers demand homemade potato chips. If you want a great chip, you need a great potato, and Laughing Crow Farm has extraordinary potatoes.  For my chip I chose their Purple Caribe.  It's nice and starchy, with snowy white flesh.  I've also made stunning chips with their all-blue, merlot, snowflake, or yukon gold potatoes.

Here's the recipe I use for potato chips with one change.  I keep the oil at 350 degrees so the potato slices cook quickly and evenly without fussing over turning them.  Just move them around a bit after you've added them to the oil.  The 30-minute soak in vinegar water is key to crisp chips.

You can slice the potatoes thin with a knife, but a mandoline will do the job quickly and produce even slices.  I have an inexpensive knockoff and it works great.

Don't crowd the potatoes, and watch them closely as they cook, as they will quickly go from golden beauties to chip charcoal.

  Potatoes, Oil, Salt.  A tasty triptych.

What else does the 4th of July call for?  Potato salad.  Well, potatoes in a salad anyway. A couple of weeks ago I made a fairly traditional version, with a buttermilk/sour cream/mayo combo base, hard-boiled eggs, garlic scapes, spring onion, capers, baby carrots, purslane, and lots of herbs.  

This time I wanted to incorporate more vegetables, and take advantage of the abundance of cauliflower.  What better way than with cauliflower candy?  

Break or cut cauliflower into 2 - 3 inch chunks.  Drizzle with olive oil to coat, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in 400 degree oven until very well browned, with some spots of char, about 20 minutes.  Done.

On to the potatoes. The easiest way to get a crispy texture and toasty flavor is chunk up potatoes, put them on a cookie sheet, toss with olive oil to coat, sprinkle on salt and pepper, and roast them in a 400 degree oven. Pop them in when you take the cauliflower out for about 20 minutes, until they are crusty outside and soft inside. If you don't mind an extra step, zap the potato chunks in the microwave until barely tender, then coat with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then grill them until they have a nice crust. More work, but also more flavor.    

The rest of the salad ingredients are up to you.  What veggies you like, what's looking good. How much chopping you want to do.  I like lots of color, so here's what I went with.  

Chunk up green and yellow summer squash, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast as with the potatoes above, or grill until just softened and grill-marked.

Sliver green and yellow beans, halve orange cherry tomatoes, and chop parsley.

Recruit good friend like Debbie to sliver beans. 

For even more color and variety, I added two cups of cooked black barley.  

Then I whipped up one of my favorite dressings: a lemon-tahini vinaigrette.  If you were one of the 200 or so folks who attended the Arms Around Bainbridge Bingo Night Fundraiser last January, this is the dressing I used on the freekeh salad.  It is incredibly versatile, complimenting meat, fish, grains, and greens, as well as potatoes and cauliflower.  And it's so simple.

Lemon-Tahini Vinaigrette

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice,  plus zest from lemons

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (more to taste)

salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Dressing keeps 5 days, covered in fridge.

Just before serving, toss everything together with enough dressing to coat, garnish with pea shoots if you got 'em, and serve.  

Thank you farmers!