Eggplant and Lamb - Market Manager Style!

It just so happened that both Donna and I decided to cook a lamb and eggplant dish this week.

Guess we could call this Dueling Eggplants - 

but this isn't a competition -

just a great way to use your market produce!

Here's my recipe

Lamb and Eggplant al Forno

from Martha Stewart

Here is my eggplant all sliced up

Notice - practically no seeds - really dense and meaty.

 The recipe calls for salting the eggplant to remove excess moisture and bitterness.

 I used my bacon press to weight the stack of salted eggplant - it worked well.

Bought my ground lamb from Lindenhof Farm.

Its seasoned with cinnamon, oregano and cumin -

The aroma is amazing! 

All set for the oven with a dusting of panko.

 And fresh from the oven - I used tomatoes to top the dish, not part of the recipe.

This dish is very low in fat if you drain the browned lamb very well.

Its also one of those dishes that improves with time -

The leftovers had even more pronounced flavors! 

Donna Made Stuffed Eggplant with Lamb and Pine Nuts,

a Food and Wine recipe.

Here are the eggplant halves after roasting in the oven

Nicely browned.

Looks like the eggplant is different from what I used.

Need to talk to these farmers to see what they are growing.

We both bragged about the gorgeous eggplants we used.

The lamb, from Lindenhof Farm, is flavored with cinnamon and cumin,

similar to my dish,

but has tamarind paste and tomato paste to add acidity.

 Here's the finished dish, beautiful!

Donna reported that the lamb was seasoned perfectly,

the cinnamon really stood out.

Celebrating Corn

Simply sublime!

Corn Farrotto

Bon Appetit's August edition.

Try this before the corn season passes you by.

To get flavor this intense you need corn fresh off of the cobs,

and, fresh tomatoes and basil.

Special Treat - Watermelon Soda Float!

Every now and again you need a "special treat"!

Today was that day!

Watermelon, sweet and juicy from EGFM last week,

Blueberry Hill Farm

The treat:

Watermelon Soda Float

From August Bon Appetit.

Ahhhhhhhh!

My special treat -
I knew I'd find a use for those mugs from the Sly Fox Brewery Goat Races!

Now the recipe calls for you to create your own citrus ice cream.

I was prepared with Zsa'a Lemon Buttermilk - perfect!

This was delicious, easy, summery!

Lee's Ratatouille Recipe

This recipe is compliments of one of our market shoppers, Lee - - - thanks Lee!

Ratatouille is French in origin, touille means to toss. And, the ingredients are simply a stewed mix of garden fresh produce, plentiful at the EGFM, including tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, zucchini, onions and garlic. 

There are many variations - here's the recipe from Lee:

2 Tbsp oil

2 Spanish onions roughly chopped

4 tomatoes peeled and quartered

2 unpeeled medium eggplants cut into 3/4-inch dice

2 green peppers seeded and cut into 3/4-inch dice

1/2 pound mushrooms quartered

4 unpeeled zucchini cut into 1/2-inch slices

3 cloves garlic, smashed

1 cup red wine

1 Tbsp paprika

2 tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 tsp basil (optional)

Heat oil in large pot.  Add onions and cook until soft.  Add eggplant,

peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, wine, paprika salt pepper and

basil.  Simmer slowly, uncovered, 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Check seasoning.  Serve hot with roasted meats or cold with a spoon

of sour cream on top. Enjoy!

Roasted Tomatoes

The heat waves of summer are hopefully history.

The thought of turning on the oven during a heatwave was just counterintuitive.

Finally we can start to think of making recipes that require the oven.

And the recipe you need to consider toot-sweet,

before the season has passed you by, 

is Roasted Tomatoes, plum tomatoes.

You can buy them by the bussel from the EGFM.

I alter the recipe a bit - but all is forgiven - you just can't go wrong.

Give them a good washing, then remove the stem end.

I use my strawberry scooper to make quick work of this step.

 Place the sliced tomatoes on a parchment lined bake sheet,

then top with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

 Roast according to the recipe.

I like to get the edges charred a bit -

more flavor.

Now you can do what ever you like with the roasted tomatoes.

1. Give them a whirl in the food processor (throw in some garlic and basil) 

to make a delicious pasta sauce.

2. They are perfect for pizza toppings, a favorite at my house.

3. Use them are appetizers as the recipe suggests - topped with some delicious cheese from Birchrun Hills Farm or Shellbark Hollow Farm

4. Chop them up and top bruschetta

5. Here I used them in a lovely light lasagna - 

homemade pasta sheets full of egg yolks from Lindenhof chicken eggs 

(you can buy your pasta sheets from Vera pasta at the market), 

some crumbled chevre, and a sprinkling of parmesan. 

Celebrating the Farmer

Mark Bitman, New York Times food columnist, wrote a thought provoking piece on the celebration of the farmer in his Opinionator column yesterday - Celebrate the Farmer.  

I don't want to summarize it here - I want you to take the time to read Mr. Bitman's column, to really think about where your food comes from, to understand the importance of the farmer in our food supply. 

The little EGFM - it is important - as is every farmers market out there that offers the nation's farmers a place to, not just sell their tomatoes, but to connect with you, the consumer. To help you to understand where your food comes from, how your decision to shop at a local farmers market dramatically impacts the livelihood of many, and just how much your support matters, not just locally, but collectively in the impact farmers markets have had on a national scale - "real farmers growing real food".

Please take the time to read this article - then forward it to a friend.

And, please take the time to shop at a farmers market.

Loving Okra - Seriously

This market manager loves okra - 

no matter what shape or size - 

both Livengood Farms and Burkholder Organics have been selling gorgeous pods!

And not just the southern deep fat fried version,

as good as it tastes,

well, 

its just not that good for you with all that extra fat!

I want to introduce you to 2 recipes that will show you 

how to tame the dreaded okra slime;

and, will turn you into an okra lover.

Pickled Okra

Pickling okra is so easy - follow the recipe link above.

If you're new to canning foods pick up a copy of the Blue Book from Ball's - 

the authority on all things canned!

Remove the little petals from the pods.

 Cut off the tip of the stem

 All prepped for the jars 

 Fit the okra into the jars - 

make it pretty!

 All packed - 

 Topped off with the pickling liquid - 

 A quick trip in the canner and voila!

Crunchy and delicious

and, no slime!

Personally I like to add spice to my pickling solution in the form of cayenne pepper!

And the second recipe that will make you fall head over heels for okra - 

Roasted Okra

This recipe is so easy, and so kid friendly!

All you need is okra and -

The trick to roasted okra perfection

- a hot oven -

Go ahead - try these okra recipes!

I promise you will learn to love okra!

Don't Miss Market This Week!

We can't promise we can bring the rainbow back that graced our market 2 weeks ago, 

but we can promise to WOW you with the most beautiful produce in the area

Baked goodies for you -

And Fido - 

Sweets for the sweet - 

All of the ingredients for a quick and delicious dinner - 

Snacking supplies - 

Something to wet your whistle - 

And something to keep you feeling clean and smelling great all day!

And so much more!

See you at market tomorrow - 

along with

Liz the harpist, our musical entertainment,

Linda, local children's book author,

and Mesa Grill, cooking up dinner for you!