Brookline Farmer's Market

I'm continuing our series on regional farmer's markets by talking about my local one in Brookline, MA. It's in Coolidge Corner, Thursdays from 1:30 until sunset starting about mid-June and going until mid-October. As my mom mentioned, when I was younger I didn't really like going to the Santa Monica farmer's market, but I must have absorbed something, because I try and make it a regular part of my routine now. As a college student in Claremont, I rarely went, since it was quite small. As a graduate student in Irvine, however, I really started using the farmer's market. Hopefully when I'm home in August I can get something on that.

Living in California spoiled me for fresh produce. The market here is smaller, it's not year-round, and it's more expensive. There also isn't the same variety of product. I also think the quality of produce is much lower. Also, as the school year picks up it gets harder to go to a Thursday market. I have lot to say about the privilege inherent in being able to go to a farmer's market in the middle of a workday and the socioeconomic makeup of the attendees of the Brookline market in particular, but that's a subject for a different blog. The main plus for me is the homemade ice cream stand. It really hits the spot after walking the 1.25 miles from my office to the market in sweltering Boston humidity. The red raspberry chip is fantastic.

I do find that the quality of produce is much higher than the grocery store, and it lasts a lot longer. It's late July, and peaches have just come into season. They're about the same price as in CA; $2.50-$3.00 per pound, and the quality is not bad. I haven't seen any nectarines, though. The blueberries are also delicious, and I think those might be cheaper. They're ~$5.00 for a pint, and make an excellent addition to my morning cereal. The thing that I'm saddest about is the lack of pluots. The pluot lady in Irvine had at least 10 varieties, spanning June until October.

One thing that MA has that CA doesn't do quite as well is apples. Last fall I saw so many types of apples that I had never seen before. I don't normally like apples, because I find them somewhat mealy, but the New England apples have changed my mind. No, there's not a gala or a pink lady in sight, but the macoun is my new favorite apple. It's got a really dark skin, and bright white flesh. I'm looking forward to seeing it come back in season.

The three pictures show you the extent of the entire market. It's small, and I'm not able to use it as my sole produce provider, but it's a good walk and it has delicious ice cream!

Zuppa di Lentils and Pastina

This morning was another rainy morning in Boston. Since it's the middle of July, however, temperatures were in the 80s by 9 AM. The rain did remind me of a soup I've been meaning to write up, though. I made it in late March, when by all accounts it should be spring. Boston weather is variable, to be euphemistic about it, so it was another cold, gray day. Perfect for soup. I adapted the recipe from the back of the box containing the pastina, which are teeny-tiny pearl noodles. Mine happen to be shaped like stars! I made this for myself, and had enough to last two days. The nice thing about soups is you can easily change the amount to suit your needs.


Ingredients
1/4 cup pastina
Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
Rosemary, to taste (I used dried, and I also threw in some of my dried Fines Herbes, which is a combination of thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, marjoram, and basil. Use whatever you have.)
Garlic, minced
1/2 lb. lentils
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Preparation
1. Heat the oil in the pot you're going to use to cook the soup. Add the onion and garlic, and saute.
2. Add water, lentils, and everything else but the pastina. The amount of water depends on how you like your soup. The amount called for in the recipe is 6 cups. Lentils and pastina both absorb a lot of water (the pastina, especially) so you may want to check on it and add more water if necessary. As you can see by the picture, I like my soup with very little broth. Bring the water to a boil, and cook until the lentils are soft.
3. Add the pastina, and cook until that's soft, about 6 min.

Farmers Markets - Santa Monica

There are many kinds of Farmers Markets - those that basically only sell produce that the farmers  bring to the market to ones that have additional stalls selling food made from farm produce, stalls that are preparing food to eat,  handcrafted items for sale and then the "farmers markets"  that have little food and seem more like craft fairs.  I go to Farmers Markets to buy food.  I have been labeled a "peasant woman" with her cart going from stall to stall examining the produce to find the best products to buy.  I find the label a compliment and reference to my Italian roots.  Although I go to the Farmer's Market year round, my favorite time is in the summer.   I overbuy and the end result is that even though it is hot, I spend more time in the kitchen than most people want even in the dead of winter, never mind the heat of summer.

The market I frequent the most is the Wednesday  Farmers Market in Santa Monica, CA.  It is the biggest market in Los Angeles and possibly the biggest in the U.S.  It is four city blocks long.  I have been going for over 25 years.  What I find amazing is that in spite of being so large the first time I went I couldn't find it because the roads were blocked off.   Many of the chefs from the best restaurants in town come to this market.  I have been known to surreptitiously follow them  to see which farmers they frequent.  I was extremely pleased to find out that their favorite stands happened to be my favorites, too.  This is also the market that is featured on Good Food, a favorite radio program.

When my daughter was little I would try to get her to come with me.  I think it's a great way to introduce children to fresh produce and the great tastes. You let them pick out what they want and ideally get them involved in turning their choices into meals. The colors of the food are great and the farmers will always let you taste what they have.  Unfortunately, my daughter did not consider it a quality way of spending time.  Yet now as an adult she makes a point of going to Farmers Markets in the cities where she lives.  So clearly it is something worthwhile doing.

At these markets I have been introduced to foods that I have never seen and ideas on how to cook them. I remember years ago buying green almonds before they formed shells. Another shopper asked me what I was going to do with them.  I told her I had no idea.  She asked me why, then, did I buy them?  I said for one dollar it was worth experimenting. (http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-marketwatch-20110415,0,4732448.story)   I have found foods that I have loved that I would never have tried (persimmons, japanese cucumbers, a large variety of eggplants)and I have reaffirmed that their are certain foods that are still not my favorites but I do eat them (brussel sprouts, cabbage, fava beans).

One of the other things that I love about this market are the friendliness of the farmers.  Over the years I have gotten to know a number of them by name and what is even more amazing, they remember my name!  They have given me recipes and taught me many things about farming that I never knew.  Their produce has also convinced me that anything I can grow, they can grow better, and my best cooking is always better when I cook what I bought from them that day.

                                     BBQ FRUIT

Take stone fruit (peaches, plums apricots, nectarines, pluots, etc) and cut them in half.   Remove pits.

Brush with butter and put on grill for approx one minute (or put on hot frying pan) until surface of fruit is caramelized.

Take about 1/2 cup of honey.  Heat with 2-3 sprigs of lavender.  Pour over fruit.  Can serve plain, or with whipped cream or ice cream.

Macaroni and FOUR Cheeses

Instead of studying for my midterm in October (I know, this is way late), I spent 2 hours making macaroni and cheese, since I had some leftover Vermont cheddar from a farmer's market up in Vermont. This recipe is adapted from 100 Best Vegetarian Recipes, by Carol Gelles. The original recipe uses only three cheese, but I added some parmesan. I also substituted the Worcestershire sauce with Sriracha.
Ingredients:
12 ounces macaroni (it calls for elbow; I used shells)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
1.5 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded Gouda (smoked is good, too)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese (I just sort of grate it in until I feel like there's enough)
Sriracha to taste
Salt to taste
Bread crumbs (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cook the macaroni until al dente; drain
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat and stir in the flour until absorbed.
4. Using a whisk, stir in the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Make sure to scrape the bottom so that there are no clumps. Stir in the cheeses, sriracha, and salt. Remove from heat and continue stirring until the cheeses are melted. Stir in the cooked macaroni. Pour into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.
5. Bake 30-45 minutes or until the top is browned.

A Passover Feast!

For Passover, I try and keep Kosher. As someone of Ashkenazi descent, this means no grains, no rice, no corn, no legumes, and no string beans. Given that everything these days is made with soybean oil and corn syrup, this gets difficult. Why do I do this, since I'm not technically Jewish nor am I ver religious one way or the other? I don't know; I take it as a personal challenge. Luckily, quinoa is not a grain. It is actually a grass, just like wild rice. The first night of Passover, things went really well in my quest to keep Kosher. I made a nice salmon with quinoa and broccoli, so here it is!



Start by cooking the quinoa. This can be done over the stove or in a rice cooker. I used a rice cooker, and then towards the end, I put the broccoli florets in the steamer basket. Make sure you use fresh broccoli, not the old stuff in the back of your vegetable crisper. That's what I did, and it brought the dish down. After the quinoa and broccoli were done, I mixed them together and added some red wine vinegar. Don't forget salt! I sometimes do, and this could have used it.

Now for the salmon. This was the highlight of the meal. I tried a little experiment, and made an impromptu grill on my stove. I have a tortilla warmer, which I heated over a burner and then wrapped the fish in tinfoil and put it on the warmer. You could also do this in the broiler. It should take about 15-20 min for the fish to cook through, depending. I like my salmon a little on the rare side, so I think I had it cooking about 7 min on a side.



I used tinfoil for easy clean up, but it's not necessary. First, I rubbed some olive oil into the fish, and then sprinkled it with salt and pepper. I also sliced up some onion, and sprinkled some minced garlic on, as well as some dried Italian herbs. If you have fresh herbs, those would be better. Since I had some parsley, I also tossed some springs in the package. If you have a lemon, that adds a tangy flavor to the salmon. You can get creative with what you put on the fish. Once I had it seasoned to my liking, I wrapped it up and tossed it on the "grill."

While I was waiting for the fish to cook, I assembled the quinoa and broccoli.

After this meal, my attempts at keeping Kosher became less than successful. Oh, well. There's always next year!

Book Review: "Quick and Easy Tofu Cookbook"

My mom got me this book (by Yukiko Moriyama) for Christmas, and I've been enjoying it. It's a bit dated (who uses the word Oriental anymore?), and some of the recipes are kind of out there, but it's also got some great ones. They are also very quick, and very easy. They don't require much prep work, and most of the ingredients are pantry staples. Heat up some rice in the rice cooker, and get to work on the meal. The rice will probably take longer. All the recipes are illustrated with photos, and all the ingredients are shown in a photo as well. This can be seen in the image below, although it's kind of blurry.



I've made the above recipe, Chinese Style Tofu with Red Pepper Sauce" a few times now, and it's come out great. I do the curry variation, because I really like curry.

Chinese Style Tofu with Red Pepper Sauce, adapted from Quick and Easy Tofu Cookbook



Ingredients (I've halved the recipe, since the original calls for 24 oz tofu, which is a lot for one person):
1 block tofu, cubed
1/4-1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or 1 fresh red chili pepper)
Oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tablespoons cooking wine
1/2 cup stock (bullion cubes are fine)
1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup water
Peas (the recipe calls for three tablespoons, but I usually put in more)

While you're assembling the dish, put some rice (brown or white) in the rice cooker to serve alongside the tofu.

Take the cubed tofu and dip it into hot water for 30 seconds (I don't know what this step does), and drain well.

Heat the oil in a wok; add ginger, green onions, garlic, and red pepper and stir-fry.

Add the ground beef and stir-fry; add 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce and reduce heat to medium. Add the curry, the rest of the soy sauce, the wine, and the stock. Bring to a boil. Add cornstarch mixture, and stir. At this point, I also like to squirt some sriracha in, but it's probably not necessary.

Add tofu and peas; simmer until thick.

Serve with rice. This lasted me 2-3 days.

Popcorn!

In Irvine, I had an air popper. When I moved, I didn't want to take it with me, but I still bought real popcorn, and not the microwave stuff. One of my friends makes it by putting it in a paper bag, folding the bag over tight, and putting it in the microwave. I have yet to try that. But I have been making it on the stovetop. The nice thing about this is that nearly every kernel in the pot pops. Even with the air popper, I got a lot of unpopped corn. It only takes about 5 extra minutes (so about 10, total). All you need is a large pot with a lid (the lid is key), and the possibilities for flavors are endless. So far I've made kettle corn (pictured), and savory popcorn with salt, pepper, and dried herbs. Here's the general idea.



1. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil or butter in a large pot. For kettle corn, I think butter is better; for savory, olive oil.
2. As the butter melts/the oil heats, add your flavoring. For kettle corn, a sprinkling of sugar goes in now. Unfortunately, I haven't quite figured out how to keep the sugar from caramelizing, so you get kind of a burnt taste to the kettle corn.
3. Once the butter is melted/the oil is hot, add a quarter cup of popping corn to the pot and cover it. Shake the pot as much as you can while still keeping it over the heat. It takes a few minutes for the popping to start, and once it does it takes about 2-3 minutes for all the kernels to pop.