Farmer's Market Friday: Why I LOVE it.

In case you haven't noticed, or didn't read my post last week, I adore farmer's market.  I told you I have the habit of repeating myself again and again, and yes, again when I find something I like a lot.  Hope you are used to that because every Friday we are going to be hearing this phrase, but from many different people who come from many different places.  From Rio de Janeiro to Tel Aviv, California to New Hampshire, I have quite the lineup to be shared -- and I am freakin' excited about it!

(Click the picture to be taken to the recipe.)

So, you get it.  I love farmer's markets.  But maybe you don't know why.  I mean, really, it's just a street with vegetables and fruit... at least that's what I used to think.  In fact, I didn't really even know what farmer's markets were when I was younger because we never went.  Then I got to college and would see the local market every Friday afternoon and the people walking through, but I had no need for veggies or fruit because I had a cafeteria, so I just drove on by.  But then I moved to Brazil for a summer and going to the feira livre to pick up fresh produce and eat pastel became my favorite part of the week.

(Click picture to be taken to the recipe.)

As great as that was, I came back to the States and forgot all about it.  Sure, a trip here and there happened, but for the most part my local market was completely ignored.  Until recently.  I woke up one day and decided I had $20 in cash that would be good for one place, and only place only.  I stocked up on produce and then, instead of my usual make-the-menu-first-then-do-the-shopping plan, I made a weekly menu based off of what was in front of me.  And my eyes were opened.

(Click the picture to be taken to the recipe.)

Opened to what?  New produce, new dishes.  Trying things I had never tried before (parsnips), doing new things with veggies I rarely used (beets and asparagus), cooking with whatever was in season (carrots and kale).  I even revisited a veggie I thought I hated (chard) but found out it wasn't so bad, after all... Seriously, this has been one of the biggest game changers in how I cook, second only to the day I decided I needed to learn to cook REAL food.

(Click the picture to be taken to the recipe.)

Know what else?  The people are great.  There is a sense of community.  Instead of swiping a plastic card into a machine with a mechanical voice, money exchanges hands while being surrounded by conversation.  My grocery bill has gone down, and the variety in our meals has gone up.  All in all, it's been a win-win.  And I like win-wins.

(Click the picture to be taken to the recipe.)

And this last week?  What did my trip yield for me? Well...

// carrot soup //          // kale strata //          // parsley topped steak //

That's seven dollars worth of produce (all I had in my wallet) and three new meals.  SCORE!

So, yes, I love Farmer's Market.  But I think I have good reason to.  I don't know if you a regular visitor or have never visited before, but I want to encourage you to get out there and try it out once in awhile.  And let me know how it goes.  Every Friday you can come back here and link up any post you have  -- recipe, fab finds, a photo tour, whatever! -- as long as it has to do with you and the farmer's market.

Next week --> Rio de Janeiro!  Make sure you stop on by :)

All in a day's drive... {The Wednesday Files}

 

Man, I love my state.

Happy Wednesday, Friends!

facebook/twitter/pinterest

Kale + Chicken Sausage Strata

The wind today is out of control.  Like trash-cans-flying-around-the-street-and-fences-almost-falling-down out of control.  I made sure both of our cars were parked inside because the last time it was like this a tree fell on my brother's car, right outside my house.

The problem was, he was serving in Afghanistan and we were surfing in Costa Rica. (Who am I kidding?  He was surfing, I was floundering around, trying not to die.)  Good thing we had great neighbors who took pictures and documented the whole thing... Geico couldn't argue with that.

Today I have no fear of the wind destroying a car or a house.  I just don't think that will happen.  What I do hope will happen is some wind gust picking up my neighbors barbecue that smells oh so good and plopping it smack dab in my yard.  Tri-tip would be preferred.

But since that's highly unlikely to happen (fingers still crossed!) I guess I will be having leftovers tonight.

Not too shabby when it's this stuff, though.  Can't go wrong with kale in this house.

So now I eat, listen to the wind, and watch The Voice.  And wait for that tri-tip to fly in...

KALE AND CHICKEN SAUSAGE STRATA

Recipe inspired by Everyday Food’s Sausage and Swiss Chard Strata, April 2011

SERVES 6  •  PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 10 minutes

ingredients

• 1 packet chicken sausage, cut into cubes
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 2 small spring onions, finely chopped (bulb only)
• 1 bunch kale (about 1 pound), leaves torn off into 2-inch pieces and rinsed
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 day-old baguette, cut into ½-inch slices
• 2 ½ cups milk
• 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
• ½ cup shredded Asiago cheese

directions

1.      Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned. Transfer sausage to a small bowl, leaving behind as much fat as possible. Add shallots and spring onions and cook over medium until translucent, 3 minutes. Add a little water to pan and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from skillet with wooden spoon. Add kale and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Add to sausage and mix together.

2.      Spread half the sausage/kale mixture in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with bread, overlapping slices slightly. Top with remaining sausage/kale mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together milk and eggs, season with salt and pepper, and pour evenly over top. Firmly press on strata to submerge bread in egg mixture. Cover dish tightly with foil and let sit 10 minutes.

3.      Bake strata 45 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake until cheese melts and egg mixture is mostly absorbed and set in center, 6 to 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

 COST: $10.25           COST PER SERVING (6): $1.71

Nutritional Information
calories 332.9   •    total fat 18.8 g    •    fiber 1.2g    •    sugars 5.5g   •    protein 29.2g

Introducing Farmer's Market Fridays... (Carrot Soup with Ginger & Lemon)

I have a recent obsession: Farmer's Market.

When I have something that I think about a lot I wind up talking about, a lot.  Which means this new obsession of mine has led me to say, "I really like going to the farmer's market!" about 10 times a day, and "Man, I love farmer's market!" about another 10 times per day.  Yesterday, upon hearing me proclaim my love for farmer's market again, my husband said, "I know.  You told me.  Every single day."

But just in case you missed it, let me proclaim from the rooftops: I LOVE FARMER'S MARKET.

Really, I do.

Which is why I am introducing Farmer's Market Fridays to you.

This will be our chance to come together across the county and hopefully the globe to explore the local farmer's markets in the communities in which we live, to share our fabulous finds and new recipes.

Here is the plan:
Each Friday (or most Fridays -- you know how it goes) a different blogger will be sharing their local Farmer's Market with us.  The task will be to show how much they can get with $10... this will give us the chance to see the similarities and differences that abound, both in produce and in price, while virtually travelling from sea to shining sea.

At the end of each post you will be able to link up with anything Farmer's Market related (from the past two weeks) to allow us to hop on over to each other's blogs and see what is going on in your neck of the woods. You can showcase what you bought, share a recipe that used Farmer's Market ingredients, or anything else you can think of, as long as the post is somehow related to a recent trip to the Farmer's Market.

My hope is that through all of this we can foster a sense of community while supporting the local communities we come from AND get some great food on our tables while keeping our hard earned cash in our wallets.

Please, come join me on this great Farmer's Market adventure!

To start us off today, I have the most incredibly delicious soup that my taste buds have ever encountered.  Most of the ingredients -- carrots, garlic, onion, tomatoes, and lemon -- I picked up last weekend while meandering my way through my local Farmer's Market.  All I needed to add was the stock, yogurt, and ginger.

This was my first time cooking with fresh ginger and IT.WAS.AMAZING.  The smell, the taste... oh my oh my!

This was also the very first time I moved beyond my comfort zone of Martha and Rachael and attempted something from Bon Appetit.  Holy freaking cow.  This stuff has expanded my eyes to a whole new level of soup.  And it was really simple.  Nothing too complicated, jam packed full of flavor, healthy, and super tasty.  Not to mention cheap.  SCORE.

So when you browsing through your Farmer's Market this weekend (if you have them yet -- I just found out today that many states don't actually get them until the Summer.  Naive California girl, right here) pick up some carrots and ginger.  It will be worth every penny, I promise.

Let's get this party started!  Link up below with any (date doesn't matter this week!) Farmer's Market post you want to share and let's start enjoying this great thing together :)  (Link-ups will be open until Sunday night.)

CARROT SOUP WITH GINGER & LEMON

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, June 1997

SERVES 4  •  PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 35 MINUTES

ingredients

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 1/4 pounds medium carrots, peeled, chopped (about 3 cups)
• 2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped (about 1 1/3 cups)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 3 cups (or more) chicken or vegetable stock
  
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  
• 4 tablespoons Greek yogurt 
• 1 small carrot, peeled, grated

directions

1.      Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 4 minutes. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add chopped carrots, tomatoes and lemon peel; sauté 1 minute. Add 3 cups stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

2.      Puree soup in batches in blender. Return soup to pot. Mix in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

3.      Bring soup to simmer, thinning with more stock, if desired. Ladle into bowls. Top each with Greek yogurt and grated carrot.

 COST: $5.43           COST PER SERVING (4 bowls): $1.36

Nutritional Information
calories 220   •    total fat 12.5 g    •    fiber 5.4g    •    sugars 8.8g   •    protein 6g
(Click here for full nutritional analysis)

Steak with Parsley Sauce and Sauteed Mushrooms

I made steak.

So what and big deal, right?

Well, I would like to inform you that this was my first time.  In fact, from the age of 13 until I was a married woman (12 years later) I never even ate steak, let alone made it.  The first time I re-had red meat was on our honeymoon... we drove past a Brazilian steak house or churrascaria (which you need to go to at the earliest opportunity -- TRUST ME).  I turned to my husband and said, "If you would like to go, I will go with you.  And I will eat the meat -- FOR YOU."

I don't think he trusted me.  The only other time he had taken me to a churrascaria was in Brazil.  Tri-tip and top sirloin, leg of lamb and other great meat, coming to our table one after another, being offered up to us to eat all we wanted.

What did I choose?

The salad bar.  And the weird sushi at the salad bar.

It was a waste of a great amount of money.

But he must have felt it was worth the risk because we went.  $45 a person is always a lot, but when you are newly married and have not that many pennies to your name, it is A LOT.  So I ate the meat.  I continued eating.  I cleared off my plate and ate a little bit more.  And I discovered something... this stuff is GOOD!  That little green/red chip stayed on green the entire time and I had the worst belly ache on the way back to the hotel.

It was totally worth it.

I don't eat much red meat still.  Except when we have BBQ.  Or the occasional hamburger.  It really is a rarity to me.  My husband loves it though, and I wanted to surprise him with a dinner just for him.  No vegetarian/chic stuff this night... I brought out the meat.  Medium-rare, just how he likes it, topped with parsley sauce and sauteed mushrooms over a bed of mashed potatoes.  A side salad with a little bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

In a word: perfection.

STEAK WITH PARSLEY SAUCE AND SAUTEED MUSHROOMS

Recipe from Great Food Fast, a cookbook by the creators of Everyday Food

SERVES 4  •  PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 25 MINUTES

steak

·        2 strip, shell, or sirloin steaks (about ¾ pound each and 1 inch thick) ·        2 teaspoons olive oil ·        coarse salt and fresh ground pepper ·        Parsley Sauce (see recipe below) ·        Sautéed Mushrooms (see recipe below)	1.      Coat the steaks with the olive oil; season with salt and pepper. 2.      Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high.  Add the steaks; cook until browned, 5 to 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. 3.      Transfer the steaks to a cutting board; let rest 10 minutes before slicing thin.  Serve with the parsley sauce and sautéed mushrooms.
parsley sauce	sautéed mushrooms
·        1 glove garlic, chopped ·        1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves ·        ¼ cup olive oil ·        coarse salt and fresh ground pepper	·        6 ounces shiitake mushrooms ·        8 ounces cremini mushrooms ·        2 teaspoons olive oil ·        1 shallot, minced ·        coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
In a blender, puree the garlic, parsley, olive oil, and 3 tablespoons water until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Any left over sauce can be stored in the refridgerator, covered in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. Makes ½ cup	Cut off the shiitake mushroom stems and discard; thinly slice the caps.  Trim the tough ends of the cremini mushrooms, then quarter each mushroom.  Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the shallot; cook until lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the cremini; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the shiitakes; cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4

COST: $20.48  COST PER SERVING (4): $5.12

+ mashed potatoes and salad: $5.85 per plate

(Click on 'mashed potatoes' above to be taken to the recipe.)

City v. Country, and where I belong (The Wednesday Files)

Sometimes I think the big city is where it is at.  The lights, the people, the dining.  Oh, the food!  The desire to get dressed up every day, to go out and see and do.  There are times when I want to pack up and move to the city -- if only for a Summer.

But then I get into the country and I feel peace.  I hear the birds singing and I see the fields dotted with shades of purple, orange, blue... I want to take all of those wild flowers and bundle them up and place them all over my house.  Fresh air and sunshine, country music and windows rolled down.

But in my heart I know where I belong... in a medium-sized town.  It really has the best of both.  People and fresh air.  Places to visit and the sound of birds chirping.  A quick drive to the big city or to windy roads that lead to nowhere.  Really, it is the best of both worlds.

How about you... City, country, or town?

Happy Wednesday, Friends!

Biscuits & Gravy, Sausage-Free

Back in college there was always a couple of reasons I loved Fridays: (1) It was Friday.  Obvious reason to love it.  (2) I usually had an easier schedule than the other days.  And (3) Biscuits and gravy were guaranteed to be at the caf.

The last was definitely the best reason to look forward to Fridays.

Today is no Friday, it's a Monday.  Boo.  But why not bring a little bit of Friday to your Monday?

I am not a big fan of sausage unless it is chicken sausage, and I didn't really think chicken would be the best in this. I bet you can agree with me.  So I went with a basic country gravy.  And although I can make a mean biscuit, who has time for that today?  Not me.  Instant biscuits from Trader Joe's worked just fine.  Monday, remember?

I know, making gravy is easy.  But for me it is a new experience, and one I am quite proud of.  As I was walking through the grocery store yesterday I almost bought one of those insta-packs.  Almost.  They are so easy, and it only cost 88cents... but then I thought, "Why not make some yourself?"

One more thing I can make from scratch.  And so can you!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Country-Style Gravy with no Sausage

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon chicken bullion
• 2 cups milk
• salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt butter over medium-high heat.  Add flour and whisk together to make a roux. 
2. Add chicken bullion and whisk.  Then, add milk all at once, stirring continually.
3. Continue to stir continually until mixture begins to boil.  Once it is boiling stir for 3-5 minutes more, until it starts to get thick.  Remove from heat and add salt/pepper to taste.  Serve over biscuits while still warm.

   COST: $1.08