Portland Farmers Market Notes: 8-22-09

What I bought:
  
  
  • Red and yellow carrots and golden beets - Beckwith Gardens
  • Spicy Salad Mix - Dandelion Spring Farm
  • Red onions and jalapeno peppers - Fishbowl Farm
  • Swiss Chard and Stir-Fry Mix - Old Ocean House Farms
  • Fava beans, cucumbers, and peaches - Snell Family Farm
  • Feta - Tourmaline Hill Farm  

What I did with it:

  • I used a few of the carrots, the cukes, and tomatoes from the garden for a traditional Gazpacho, but I wanted something a little different.  The jalapeno provided a little kick, but that wasn't enough for me.  Then came the fava beans - par-boiled first of course.  Nice.  Then I looked through the cabinets and spotted two different packages from Maine Coast Sea Vegetables - Nori and Dulse.  I chopped up a little of each and added it to the Gazpacho, and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours.  As you can see in the first pic below, it wasn't a "seaweed soup".  There was just enough to provide a nice "surf" accent to a chilled "surf 'n turf" soup.  For a little protein I added some diced extra sharp cheddar.   I'll definitely be making this again.
  • The white onions I had leftover from last week and the red ones from this week all went toward a delicious batch of caramelized onions - simple and slow cooked over low heat with a little bit of olive oil.  Some of this mixture topped the spicy salad mix for a sweet and spicy salad.  The rest went into the next item.
  • Simple Treatment #1: The golden beets and the remainder of the red and yellow carrots were peeled, coated with olive oil and slow roasted in the oven.  I added the rest of the caramelized onions to this mixture when it came out of the oven (see second picture). Tomorrow night's dinner will be a baguette with brie and this sweet beet, carrot, and onion mixture served "bruscetta"-style.
  • Simple Treatment #2: A little whole wheat pasta, a little red pepper, a little Swiss chard, a little olive oil, some olives, and a little feta.  Yum. (see third picture)
  • Tonight's dinner was a marinated tempeh stir-fry.  I cut and marinated the tempeh in a sesame teriyaki sauce with some pistachio nuts I had kicking around.  (The stir-fry mix - a combination of 3 different greens - is an awesome idea.  It is like "fast food" at the farmers market.  Ready to go flavor combos.)  Everything got stir-fried and was served over brown and white rice.   (see fourth picture)
  • Tonight's dessert - Simple Treatment #3.  If you can cut a peach and sprinkle brown sugar on it, you're all set.  That's all I did - cut them in half, put them in a baking dish, sprinkled brown sugar on the top of each (about a tablespoon per half), and baked them at 275 degrees for about 45 minutes (nice and slow).  When they came out of the oven they were begging to be served with a scoop of Smiling Hill Farm's Black Raspberry Ice Cream. (see fifth picture)










I'll see you Saturday at the market!

Paul Gagne
Tasting in Tongues Maine
www.tastingintonguesmaine.com
paul@tastingintonguesmaine.com

 

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