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Time for the weekly Farmer’s Market Roundup!
Out at the Cherry Creek Farmer’s Market, we have available:
- Late spring greens
- Summer squash and zucchini
- Beets and radishes
- Cherries and strawberries
- English peas, favas, and green beans
- garlic scapes
- sweet bell peppers
- and your usual array of potatoes, onions and garlic
At the Ray Domenico Farm stand, I got lacinato kale, raw quinoa, and dandelion greens for $2.75 each – a total steal.
I just wanted to drop you all a note to say that I won’t be posting for a few days. My BFF of all time, Anna (aka Banana) is getting hitched this weekend, and as The Best Woman, I have many a duty to fulfill – namely, keep her sane and then get mildly intoxicated to celebrate her nuptuals. Weddings are grand, no?
I will return Tuesday with a plethora of foodie delights.
Oh, and another thing…
Congratulations, Stephen and Anna!
Time for a quick recap: I found fresh english peas at the Farmer’s Market this past Wednesday. I squealed like a little girl when I saw them. I bought some, but not enough. I debated what to use them in – a pea spread on crostini? Carbonara? I decided on the simple choice, recommended by the farmer herself.
Fresh English Peas
- As many peas as you can shell without going nuts
- A knob of butter
- A sprinkling of kosher salt
Step One: Shell peas from the pods, while drinking wine and watching back episodes of Gossip Girl. Exclaim “Motherchucker!” every time Chuck Bass comes on screen.
Step Two: Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat. Focus on not burning yourself, if you are a smidge intoxicated. Season the water with salt. Prepare a colander and a bowl of water with ice water.
So, it occured to me the other day that out of my 16 entries so far on the blog, I hadn’t featured a single pork or beef recipe. There’s a reason for it, of course… I just don’t cook pork or beef all that much. So if you’re a charter member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association… you’ve come to the wrong blog.
I probably make pork once a month or so, but I might make it more after discovering this recipe. I based it off of a Kitchn recipe, where it was made with chicken. Pork cutlets were on sale at the grocery store, however, so I made it with “the other white meat.”
This is quite a simple and versatile recipe. Obviously you can make it with pork or chicken. You could also substitute onions for shallots, if you can’t find shallots in your grocery store. In addition, you could substitute any kind of fruity jam or preserves in this recipe – I happened to have a jar of Stonewall Kitchen‘s Strawberry and Brandied Apricot Jam on hand, so I used that instead of straight apricot jam – and it was freaking delicious, just in case the photos aren’t sending you into a drool spiral already.
This weekend I visited my local farmer’s market in Cherry Creek, CO, as part of my goal of visiting a farmer’s market every week. And I got there super super early this week – no later than 7:15 am (aka. “the UnHoly Hour.”) Some of the tents weren’t even set up yet, but the market was already buzzing with shoppers. Unfortunately, because I was still semi-asleep, I completely spaced on taking my camera with me to the market. Instead, I took the above shot as a summary of the booty I got at the market. Let’s summarize, shall we?
- 2 bunches of beets (1 golden and 1 red)
- 1 bunch of arugula
- 2 stalks of rhubarb
- 3 zucchini
- 3 summer squash
- 1 pound or so of green beans
- 1 pound or so of fresh english peas
- 1 bunch of peonies
Since I’m leaving for another wedding in 3 days, I have no idea why I bought all of this produce. I have plans of making a strawberry-rhubarb jam, so I’ll probably end up freezing the rhubarb, as I won’t be able to address that project until I get back. I’ve already made use of the beets and the peas, which will be in separate posts. The squash, I think I will freeze some and pickle the rest… I’ve never had pickled squash but I heard it’s divine, so we’ll see how that turns out. And the arugula I’ll probably make pesto from… because it’s so freaking good that way.
Can we just take a minute to fangirl out on the fact that I got fresh peas from the farmer’s market?!?!? ***insert fangirl shriek here*** I mean, the season for fresh peas lasts about 4 hours. Well, maybe I’m exagerrating (it’s actually about 3 weeks here in Colorado) but you get my point – the season is short, with a capital S. I wish I had bought more of the peas. As it was, I had enough for a side dish. And I was totally going all “Little House on the Prairie” while I shucked peas for dinner – well, except for the fact that I watched back episodes of Gossip Girl while I was shucking. Anyhoodle, the point is – next time I see them, I’m buying at least three or four times the amount that I purchased this go round.
Also, because the peonies I got were so amazing, I thought they deserved a photo all their own:
Aren’t they purdy?
So you may have noticed there’s a giant gap between posts in the past few weeks. I disappeared! Well, not really. I left the Rockies and headed to the Mid-Atlantic. Two of my best girls, Anna (aka “Banana”) and Allie, were having wedding festivities! It was 10 days of wedding stuff. And It. Was. Awesome.
First things first… a trip to Ukrop’s and a trip to Anthropologie. A girl has priorities, right?
If you’re not from around here, Ukrop’s is a local grocery store here in the greater Richmond area. There are only a few stores, and it’s all locally-owned by the Ukrop family, which is part of it’s charm. And the bag boys and bag girls will help you out to your car, regardless of whether you’re 80 years old and feeble, or 18 years old on a cell phone. And most importantly, they have an AMAZING prepared foods section. I swear, sometimes if you blink your eyes at just the right time when you’re walking in, the sliding glass doors resemble St. Peter’s Gates.
Ukrop’s in all of it’s glory:
After Ukrops, we hit up Anthropologie, because they were having a sale. Yes, I do love their clothes (namely this and this and this and this… you get the point) but the clothes are soooo expensive. And in all honesty, I wasn’t after the clothes at all this time around. I was looking for… measuring cups. They have the cutest kitchen stuff there.
This cake isn’t really a blackberry buttermilk cake. It’s true name should be more along the lines of “[Insert Berry Type Here] Buttermilk Cake,” because you can use any and every type of berry, or even fruit, in this recipe.
I made this cake THREE DIFFERENT TIMES during my vacation (which was only 10 days long). First Banana and I made it at her house; we had a blonde moment and forgot to butter and flour the pan… we ended up with more of a “rustic” cake (“rustic” = “broken in half when we tried getting it out the pan”). Then I made it at my parents’ house with blueberries (that’s what we already had), and then I made it AGAIN for company at my parents’ beach house later that week, using blackberries. Pretty impressive, no? You’re viewing the efforts of my last attempt.
This cake is simple, quick, and cheap. Assuming you have some berries or fruit laying around, or you can pick some up quickly on your way home, you could make this cake in less than an hour, cooking time included.
I know a lot of people who really like fish, yet no one seems to have it on a frequent basis. I mean, I probably only make it once every two weeks or so… but I feel like a lot of people defer to chicken or ground beef before they make fish as a quick dinner.
I’m all about the quick seafood recipes. Especially this one. It’s a simple rub, made mostly of spices that probably already have in your cabinet. Well, except for the coriander. The result is a spicy but not-too-sweet salmon dish that is absolutely addictive. Everyone that I’ve ever made this for absolutely loves this dish.
Speaking of seafood, the Sustainable Seafood Guide has been updated recently. This guide will help you determine which kinds of seafood to eat, and will even specify whether to choose farmed or wild-caught seafood during your shopping. The guide takes into account which fish and shellfish are unhealthy to eat, as well as which species are overfished or are not caught using safe fishing practices. For example, some species of tuna are high in mercury levels, so you should reduce your consumption of tuna to certain occasions. The guide will help you determine which tuna species to buy, if that is on the menu at your house. I can’t say enough about how helpful this guide is, because it’s important to remember not only which seafood species are bad for your health, but also that your favorite dish might not be around much longer if it’s overfished. It’s something to keep with you if you know your’e buying fish at the store that day; I have a laminated copy taped to the inside of one of my cabinets, that I have been known to take to the store with me… because you know, I’m nerdy like that.
I served this salmon with crookneck squash and zucchini (it was on sale at the grocery store, you know how I roll), which I sauteed with red onion slices and dressed with thin slices of fresh basil. Read the rest of this entry »
So, I know this guy who really likes Hot Pockets. You know, the microwaveable pockets of bread filled with delicious stuff? Meal in your hand? Yes, he likes them a lot. But I worry about him… his favorite foods are Hot Pockets and beer, and I can’t bring myself to approve of that diet! Trans fat, saturated fat, preservatives… Hot Pockets, and freezer food in general, are full of chemicals and artery-clogging cholesterol. But I know he loves them, so I wanted to prove that you can have an on-the-go bachelor food for cheap, made from wholesome ingredients.
So, because I know he loves them, I want to offer my homemade hot pocket to him. I know he usually uses butter in his cooking, and here I used oil… but regardless of which one you choose, some butter or oil is needed for the dough. Hot Pockets usually taste better with butter, he’ll say, but I say, olive oil is better for you.
Now, this guy I know, he doesn’t cook much. Apparently he can make a mean pot of beans (but I’ll believe it when I see it), and likes to microwave carrots. So I’ve made the following recipe extra easy for him – you can either make the dough yourself, or you can just buy refridgerated biscuit dough and put in your own filling. Regardless, these can be frozen; just wrap in a paper towel and heat up in the microwave until hot.
Friend – I made your favorite! Pepperoni and cheese. I left a dozen frozen in a cooler on your doorstep, along with a case of Heineken. One step at a time. (Your next step is to give me a special hug to thank me.)
Hi Friends. Have you missed me?
My apologies for not checking in the past two weeks – life got a bit crazy with the trip to the East Coast, multiple wedding festivities, and then coming back to work. Have you ever noticed how when you go on vacation you come back and no one has been doing any work? Isn’t that fun? Yeah, I didn’t think so, either.
Anyhoodle, since green beans are coming into season on the East Coast, my friend Banana decided to share this delightful recipe for using fresh green beans. It’s the perfect way to cook them – the beans are still crisp, but not undercooked. Set a timer, people! 3 minutes and 30 seconds is quicker than you might think.
xoxo,
The Kitchenette
