August | 2012 | farmersmarket365

August 18, 2012

What I froze this week: August 17, 2012

It’s Friday evening and I am getting ready for market tomorrow. I do have some things left that will hold up until next week but do need onions, summer squash, tomatoes, maybe some potatoes, peppers, cucumber, eggs, bread, corn of course, and whatever else looks good. Oh and peaches for eating.

After my last two postings you might have gotten the impression that I came away from the market with a few nice bags of food for the week, and some cucumbers for the pickles, and yes I did. But being that it is August it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t also come home with a cornucopia of extras for the freezer. So at the end of market I made sure to visit my farmer friends and got some good deals on tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants and peppers. Now keep in mind that I also purchased at full price some of these items earlier- that makes giving me a deal a little easier. What you might not realize is that summer veggies are picked the day before the market so that what you get is at its peak of ripeness. Most of what you get in the grocery store (with the exception of really local food they might carry) is picked well before it is ripe to minimize damage and loss of product while in transit. Last Saturday it rained early and then threatened to return remained strong, this keeps the faint of heart at home thus reducing the number of people who normally visit the market. Now unless the farmer has another market in a day or two after picking he or she has to unload what they have. My advice is to think twice about staying home in bad weather-show up at the end of the market and you will be rewarded.

I arrived home with bags full of good stuff and had lots of work to do. I can usually wait a day before processing but do need to be sure my veggies are in a good place. I could leave the cucumbers and eggplant in their bags, the peaches though needed to be put in a single layer on the counter. I have some inexpensive netted coverings that I put over the peaches to keep the fruit flies at bay. The tomatoes were next; I placed them on trays and put them on the bench in the mud room. When I have too many, I’ll set up a table in the garage and leave them there. The peppers, I did up right away as they were easy. You already know what I did with the cucumbers, so here is the “rest of the story”.

Peppers: The green and yellow sweet peppers were beautiful this week. When picking them from the market they will be different sizes and rarely will they be as big and perfect as they are in the store. To process them this week I focused on the cut and freeze method. This gives me peppers to use later on in soups, stir fry, frittata and pizzas. They don’t retain their crispness when thawed but that isn’t important to me. Some people blanch them before freezing but I find that I end up with a layer of ice on the peppers in the freezer- not something I like, but if that is what you want to do go for it. I cut out the seeds and ribs from the peppers and then chopped them into smallish pieces. To freeze them I first put them on sheet pans, single layer, and when they freeze they are transferred to a freezer bag. Later on when I am making a soup or egg dish I can scoop out what I need. At this point I don’t mind putting the different colors in the same bag but generally I will keep sweet and hot pepper separated. Stay tuned for further posts on roasting, red pepper relish and what I do with hot peppers.

Corn: I did get my usual dozen ears and blanched 4 for the freezer. I also used the ears to make some stock as I am thinking soup in the next week.

Peaches: I have to say I am becoming a white peach convert. They really have been much more to my liking this year. So I came home with a bag of each, white and yellow, with intentions of eating them all. However, on Monday the kitchen was filled with the wonderful smell of peaches. As nice as this is it also means they are ready NOW. I could see the fruit flies ready to descend and munch on the wonderful sugars in the fuzzy fruit and I had to act quickly much to their disappointment. I separated them into two groups, the really ripe and the ripe. The ripe ones I cut up and placed in the fridge for toppings on cereal and for desert. A bowl of peaches with a bit of almond milk after dinner is a wonderful way to end a meal. The really ripe peaches, some of which already had rotten spots on them, I cut up for freezing. I also took about 2 cups of the fruit and mashed it for the next time I make peach ice cream. I could also use it in a smoothie.

Eggplant: There are so many different types of eggplants but I am a traditionalist and like what most of us think of as an egg plant. This is a funny vegetable to freeze because it is hard to do so without cooking it in some way. You will see that I use it in a lot of roasted vegetable dishes, eggplant campanada, etc. I used these to make a stash of baked, breaded eggplant. After baking these get wrapped and frozen for use later on in any type of egg plant parmesan or casserole. Now I am not opposed to pan frying them in a skillet, but I had so many that that would have taken much longer and the baking produces almost the same effect.

Cut ¼ inch slices of eggplant; I keep the skin on but that is a personal preference.
Place the slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet. I also place my cooling racks on the sheet to help with the water removal.
Salt the egg plant, leave out for about 30 min. *
After a period of time, use a paper towel to dab off the water.
Fix up three dredging plates: flour, egg, bread crumbs. Be sure after the flour and then eggs that you shake off the excess. As for the crumbs, I use my own and don’t worry about seasoning because I will do that when I use them.
Place the slices on a baking sheet that has been smeared with olive oil and garlic. When I start this process I will usually infuse the minced garlic in the oil while waiting for the eggplant to be ready. Drizzle a bit more olive oil over the eggplant so it doesn’t dry out. *
The oven is set at 375F and I cook them until brown, about 20 min. Half way through the process I’ll turn them.
Let cool and then wrap in waxed or parchment paper and place in a freezer bag.

Tomato: With so many other foods to work on I kept my tomato processing simple. These were firm tomatoes and I knew I had some time, but always watch tomatoes as when one begins to go bad the other decide to follow. I chose to freeze these as chopped tomatoes and did not remove the skin. I actually don’t mind the skins so unless I have the time I just chop. I also chose to roast half of them.

Chopping tomatoes:

I use a melon baller to remove the stem end of the tomato.
Cut the tomatoes in half and before chopping I take out some of the water and the seeds by squeezing the tomato into a bowl. You should be left with lots of flesh. I do want to use the juice later; also this process doesn’t have to be perfect.
Chop the tomatoes into the size pieces you want and place in freezer bags. I don’t over fill the bags because I want them to lay flat in the freezer.

Roasting tomatoes:

Prepare the tomatoes as directed above but once chopped I put them on a sheet pan.
Drizzle a bit of blueberry balsamic vinegar and olive oil and add some fresh oregano.
Place in a 375 F oven for about 30 min. Stir them around every so often.
Let cool and place in freezer bags.

One of the things about tomatoes is that I make use of just about everything. With the tomatoes in the freezer, I can now tend to the juice. I pour all the juice and seeds I collected into a colander nested in a collecting bowl. Using the back of a wooden spoon I squeeze as much liquid as I can, or want to, through to the bowl. If I get really picky I’ll then strain that through a smaller sieve. I freeze some of this as stock for soups but I also freeze some in muffin pans. Once frozen, I will remove the “tomato cubes” and place in freezer bags to be used when I only need about a cup of stock like for cooking rice or quinoa.

The seeds and left over pulp became worm food in the compost. I have processed the seeds to grow for next year, but not this time. It is a bit involved and if you are interested, here is a site that explains the process. http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seedsave/2002084456024410.html The only thing I would say about these instructions is that when fermenting they do smell and you will get fruit flies. I put mine in the garage.

Whew, that’s about it for this week, now back to the market for another adventure.

Notes

There are some who think that salting is unnecessary and I actually only do it when I bread the eggplant. What I have read is that larger eggplants have the brown seeds that can be bitter and that smaller eggplants don’t have this feature. In this case I don’t want the eggplant to be soggy so I salt. You can make your own decision.
Baking eggplant means that you reduce some of the fat you get by pan frying them. You can reduce it even more if you coat the pan and then the top of the eggplant with cooking spray.

Take Home info

Use the weather to your advantage
It is easier to get a deal on bulk items if you also pay full price for other things.
Freezing does take time but you can spread it out if you give the produce a happy place to be.
Be mindful of when you have run out of time, don’t let the fruit flies get the upper wing.

August 16, 2012

This Cuke’s for you

I was talking about my blog with a friend the other day who said, “wow can you tell me what to do with all my cucumbers?” New to growing a vegetable garden he was amazed at all the types of cucumbers and is equally amazed at how many he has. When I first grew cucumbers I felt like a slave to either eating them raw or making pickles. How wrong I was, The Victory Garden Cookbook *introduced me to how versatile they are. I still eat them raw and make pickles but also know there is more to it. One note, remember they are mostly water so if you are cooking with them and don’t want the extra water just cut them and let them drain for about an hour. Salting will speed up that process but is not necessary.

Suggestions: cucumber sauce, sautéed with onions, cream of cucumber soup, baked stuffed cucumbers, cucumber sauce over salmon, tzatziki, added to salads like tuna fish and chicken, puree and added to mashed potatoes, grate and sauté quickly in butter, add to eggs and scramble, and my favorite especially in this humid summer, take a few peelings of cucumber and add to a pitcher of water for the fridge – very refreshing. Two slices of cucumber on your eyes after a lot of computer work feel really nice. When making pickles instead of throwing the ends in the compost I place them in a bag for freezing and use them in water later on.

Bread and Butter pickles

I have attempted different types of cucumber pickles over the years but find that these are my favorite. It might just be the case because I can remember my mom making them about this time of year and when I was old enough I was included in the process making both pickles and memories.

I use a combination of two recipes, one from the Fanny Farmer cookbook and one from Aunt Doris. There are many recipes on line for you to choose from; I even found out you can get the Fanny Farmer cookbook on your kindle, but honestly find one that works for you and experiment as you like. Here is an example of one much like my own. http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/bread_and_butter_pickles/

Some advice for having great pickles.

There are many types of cucumbers out there, don’t limit yourself to pickling cukes but I tent to stay away from some of the more fancy ones. To be sure you have enough one pound of cukes with skin on = about 4 cups of sliced for the usual looking cuke, 5 pickling cukes will give you about the same. Don’t worry if you are off a bit.
The recipe will usually call for pickling salt. I have used just good old table salt but now that the pickling kind is a staple in my pantry I use that.
I purchase a bag of ice for the crisping. If you use ice from your ice maker just be sure you stock up.
Cutting: for me the best B and B are paper thin, so I am sure to cut both cukes and onions as thin as I can get them. I use a mandolin but you could also use a food processor or if you have the time use a sharp knife.
When leaving them to drain, I put them in a collider over a big bowl and let sit. Be sure to add ice during the time and rinse afterwards.
The pickling juice cooks up quickly and you don’t want to overcook the pickles. Once you add them to the pot and they come back to a boil they are done, start filling the jars. WARNING: when the recipe says to slowly bring the mixture to a boil heed the word slowly. I have experienced a boil over onto my stove, the sugar catches fire and it is one nasty mess to clean up. Lesson learned.
I keep my pickles in big jars in my refrigerator. I have a smaller jar that is more accessible that I fill from the bigger ones. They keep for a long time.
Do this with a friend, a child or a grandchild, remember to share your stories which will result in jars of pickles and memories for some time to come.
What to do with the pickles-besides eating them by the forkful?
- On sandwiches especially grilled cheese and tuna salad.
- A condiment with chicken or steak.
- Add to a salad and use some of the juice as dressing
- On hotdogs or kielbasa
- As a topping on pizza
- Put out on a cheese board with brie or other soft cheese.
- Give a jar away as a hostess gift or at holiday time.

Note

I went to find a good site for you to purchase The Victory Garden Cookbook by Maran Morash and was floored that some copies are over $100.00. Not sure why, but I did find some others that were down in the reasonable range. You will have to do some work to find them. FYI mine had a price tage of 17.00 on it.

Take home info

There are many uses for cucumbers
When making pickles you get more if you share it with someone else.

1 Comment

August 14, 2012

Peppers, cucumbers and eggplant oh my!

Ok, so maybe they aren’t as scary as the woods in the Wizard of Oz but sometimes when I get all these veggies home I wonder, what was I thinking! Because freezing isn’t the only thing I do with my purchases I thought it might be fun for me to share what I do with the food during the week. My Sunday posting will be a kind of week in review giving you a general idea of just what my plans are. I won’t give you every meal as that would both be tedious and a bore to read. This week you’ll have to get your week in review on Tuesday as I thought of it on Monday but didn’t get to writing until today. Though there will be a time a place for recipes, right now I’ll give you a brief overview of some of the dishes, the resource, and pointers. I welcome questions and comments.

This week it wasn’t hard to walk away with more than enough veggies for meals; in fact my menu board simply says…veggies for each night. With vegetable bins and counter tops now filled with eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, peaches, eggs, bread, arugula, and tatsoi (http://www.food.com/library/tatsoi-716) I can share with you my plan for the week.

Monday:

Breakfast– The tomatoes looked so good that I couldn’t wait and so after preparing my oatmeal I chopped one up and added it to the cereal. Crazy I know but was pretty good- try it and let me know.

Dinner– A stir fry of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and onions with pasta

To prepare, first I marinated the tomatoes in some blueberry balsamic vinegar. I also cut the eggplant into ½ inch cubes, salted them and let them drain for about 20 min.*
Sauté the onions, peppers and egg plant until soft, then add tomatoes. Just before serving put the tatsoi on top and let it wilt, a bit of grated nutmeg should be added as well.
Add the pasta to the stir fry with some grated parmesan cheese and a bit of olive oil.

Tuesday:

Lunch: A salad buffet

Using a cutting board as a serving platter I fill it with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, arugula, hard boiled eggs, coleslaw (non mayo type) and micro greens. As a dressing I might just use a bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil or I might just add pickles to the mix and have the pickle juice be the dressing. * It becomes a mini salad bar and we eat directly from it.

Wednesday:

Breakfast/Lunch : I’ll be busy working with tomatoes and eggplants today so I’ll have a bigger breakfast: a kind of opened face egg sandwich. Toast a piece of bread and place some cheese, a few slices of tomato, arugula or micro greens, and then an egg done to your liking. I prefer poached or fried. If I have an avocado I’ll use that instead of the cheese.

Dinner: Steamed corn and tomatoes is our absolutely favorite summer dinner. I might add some basil and or balsamic vinegar but most likely a bit of salt will do just fine. We have found this summer that butter can be easily substituted for a combo of olive oil and hot sauce. I keep it in a bottle in the refrigerator.

Thursday:

Dinner: Eggplant casserole- I found a neat recipe in The Whole Foods Market Cookbook (you can find this at Whole foods markets or at Amazon.com) that calls for among other ingredients eggplant, orzo and sundried tomatoes. As usual I don’t have two of the three ingredients so I am changing it up. There will also be more than what we can eat in one meal. Instead of saving it for Friday, I’ll freeze part of it for the winter.

Saute: Olive oil, eggplant, onions, ½ a hot pepper until vegetables are soft. Remove from the heat.
Add: chopped tomatoes garlic and in place of orzo I might add couscous, but I am not yet sure. Also add basil and tomato juice. Note: I don’t have tomato juice so before I chop the tomatoes, I will squeeze the tomato half into a sieve sitting in a bowl. This will get rid of the seeds and let the “juice” collect in the bowl. I can then use that as needed.
Place this mixture in a casserole dish, cover with dollops of ricotta cheese (make it look like pillows) bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 min. or until golden brown.

Friday

Today will be mystery day. What we eat will depend on what I don’t want to carry into next week. micro greens, tomatoes, lettuce etc. I’ll try to use in some fashion. Cabbage stores easily in the bin for more than a week so I won’t rush to use it. By the end of the day, I’ll be able to make my list for Saturday.

Note to self

Salting and draining eggplant is what I have always done but I am seeing more and more recipes that don’t require it. I have done both and don’t notice a difference. However I do feel the salting is important when I bread and bake the eggplant to freeze. Something to research.
Pickle juice. When you use the pickles don’t throw out the juice. It is after all just vinegar some sugar and spices; makes a good dressing. I have a bottle of pickle juice in my fridge that I just keep adding to and taking from.

Take home info

I plan my week’s meals sometimes before the market, making a list of what I need, but sometimes I shop first and challenge myself to plan the week’s menu with what I have. Sort of a weeklong Chopped competition. Do what works for you.
Everything is so fresh at this time of year; I don’t work too hard to create meals. A light steam or sauté or even raw is the best way to get the luscious flavors of summer.
When making a casserole or stir fry vegetables freeze a portion of it for later in the year.

August 7, 2012

Just a shopping week

Vacation days and summer humidity make it a good time to take a break from putting up food for the winter. Even squirrels take a break from gathering. I have entitled this entry as Just a Shopping Week because that’s all I want to do. I wasn’t able to get to the Coastal Growers Market on Saturday (www.coastalmarket.org/) but I am fortunate to live in Rhode Island where there are so many markets; I can go to one or more every day of the week. If you live in Rhode Island the following link should be part of your favorites: http://www.farmfreshri.org/ as it gives you not only the information about each market but other events associated with local food. I have gone on line and found that a lot of other states also have some type of listing for local markets. I strongly recommend that you use these resources; sometimes market information will also link you to the individual farm or vendor and let you know when you can go directly to the source. Watson farm is my source of lamb and beef and they are at the Coastal market but I also know I can get meat from them at the farm .. (http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farm.php?farm=133)

So this week I set off for the East Greenwich market, where I was able to find all that I needed for the week. (http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farmersmarkets_details.php?market=214). I found several vendors who I normally buy from at the Coastal market: The Coffee Guy ( you can find him on face book) and Barden family orchard (www.bardenfamilyorchard.com) for peaches and corn. On the other hand I was able to meet and learn of other vendors that I don’t regularly see: Narragansett Creamery (unbelievable cheese and yogurt) and Schartner’s farm. This is a much smaller market, but that is all right because I just need my weekly groceries. I realized this week that if I had no other choices this market would more than fit my needs for weekly food. I found coffee, peaches, lettuce, egg plant, tomatoes, fish, meat, bread, pizza, corn, plumbs, and the other regular goods; and there is a choice of vendors. What the Coastal, larger market has in activities and more people, the smaller market allows for a more relaxed shopping experience and one you can get in and out of quickly, if need be. I noticed two challenges to the smaller market. First because of the smaller flow of traffic, vendors may bring a limited amount of goods and therefore I am not sure I would be able to buy in bulk for freezing. However, I have always found growers especially accommodating and I take the opportunity to establish a relationship with them. I will often ask if they would be willing to sell me an item in bulk and if they can they will often bring it to the next market. Of course market etiquette applies here: if you ask for something be sure to show up. It is always worth a call during the week to be sure they can fill your order. Weather and the time of year dictate how much is available. I might also let them know that if they could bring seconds and I’ll buy them- this is especially good at the end of a growing season; I get my red peppers this way. The second challenge is that the variety of foods might be limited due in part to space available to show the items but also because the growers might not be large enough to have more than a few items. There is a good side to this challenge in that I might have to make a decision to try something I haven’t before. This has happened several times and I have added salad turnips, kohlrabi, celery root, and some different winter squashes to my list of options for dinner.

I do love the Coastal Grower’s market and the energetic atmosphere but I also find something relaxing about the smaller market. Vendors and growers seem a bit more relaxed and have some extra time to share their knowledge with you. I also find that I don’t over buy- it’s a bit like being in a smaller candy store.

Take home information and some random notes

How to pick a ripe peach: This week I learned that smell is always a good indication of a ripe peach but sometimes this can be a bit tricky. There is always the squeeze test but that can be misleading, not to mention that you can bruise the peach. I learned this week that the fuzz on a peach might be thick enough that the “squeeze” you feel may be just the soft fuzz and that the fruit itself is still hard. The main lesson for getting the perfect ripe peach was to look at the color at the top of the peach (where the stem would have been). In a ripe peach the color is a soft yellow and almost looks like someone painted on a thin line; in an unripe peach it is a green color.

A Bumper Crop are a temptation- think twice before over indulging: As I have written about previously, the blue berries are plentiful this year and I have filled my freezer with enough. BUT I learned yesterday that they are still being picked – what a temptation to spend another hour in the fields filling my buckets with those warm little berries. The little angel on left shoulder reminded me that enough is enough. A lesson to be learned that when there is a good growing season for a crop; listen to your inside voice and stop when you know you have enough. That said, I guarantee you will find me in the field picking a quart or two for cereal, muffins, pancakes—hmmmm maybe I don’t have enough- ok, ok, ok never mind.

Though freezing and putting up food is great, sometimes just shopping for weekly is ok.

Use the internet to seek out markets near you. Make a list of times and places so if you are in the vicinity you can get what you need. I have a few random markets programmed into my GPS.

Enjoy the more intimate relaxed feeling that comes with smaller markets and use it to learn from growers and vendors.

Month: August, 2012