The Best Thing I Had In My Mouth - Concord Grapes

Last week I made it down to the Greenmarket for some concord grapes.  These beauties are in season right now, and I love them soooo much.  They are the types of grapes you see in old Baroque paintings.  They are a beautiful purply-blue color with a thin bloom that rubs off.  You don't find them in a lot of grocery stores, because they have large seeds.  They don't bother me too much though, because I love their flavor and jelly-ish texture.  I had fun buying a basket, sitting in the park, and spitting the seeds.  They looked quite picturesque in their wooden baskets with bees buzzing around them at the Stone Arch Farm's booth.  You should definitely stop by your farmers market and give them a try.

Fiddlehead, Potato, and Ramp Pizza

I can't tell you how nice it is to go to the Greenmarket early Friday morning.  I am almost hesitant to tell you, because I don't want people to hear and it to become crowded!  Anyways, I made my rounds last Friday on a mission to get ramps, rhubarb, asparagus, and fiddlehead ferns.  I ended up with all of those and a small basil plant, eggs, and shiitake mushrooms.  In the booth where I bought the fiddleheads and ramps, some guys from The Spotted Pig (my favorite restaurant) were buying a hefty load of fiddleheads!  By the way, I am noticing a trend - if you carry herb plants with you, someone is bound to talk to you.   It happened to me with my rosemary, and it happened to with my basil on Friday.

BluePrint Cleanse Review - Day 2

I am not going to go into an hour by hour play-by-play like I did yesterday, but I will talk about some "highlights" or "moments" of my second day of the BluePrint Cleanse.

Tips For The Farmers Market

Ummm...can you believe tomorrow's April?  I can't!  For me, April is the start of something special at the Greenmarket.  Not that apples, root vegetables, and dark greens are not delicious in the winter, but my heart sings for produce like asparagus, rhubarb, and fresh berries.  And in April and May, these are when the gems start to appear.  So I encourage everyone to make it to their farmers market and check out the goods.  Here are some tips taken from Gabrielle Langholtz from the Greenmarket, for being a savvy shopper:

10 Reasons to Buy Local Food

I am still in the midst of organizing my apartment, and while doing so I realized that I am a paper hoarder.  I am not talking about stationary, which I consider design related - so that makes it collecting - not hoarding.  Yet on the other hand, my wallet is always bursting with receipts, my desk is covered with ticket stubs, metro cards, random things handed to me on the street, and magazine tears.  So I finally went through it all and came across something that I was actually glad I kept.  It is a pink photocopy of 10 reasons to buy local food, which was taken from "With an Ear to the Ground," by Vern Grubinger.  I thought I would share:


1.  Local food tastes better.  Food imported from far away is older, has traveled on trucks or planes, and has sat in warehouses before it finally gets to you.


2.  Local produce is better for you.  The shorter the time between the farm and your table, the less likely it is that nutrients will be lost from fresh food.


3.  Local food preserves genetic diversity.  In the modern agricultural system, plant varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen uniformly, withstand harvesting, survive packing and last on the shelf, so there is limited genetic diversity in large-scale production.  Smaller local farms, in contrast, often grow many different varieties to provide a long harvest season, in a an array of colors and flavors.


4.  Local food is safe.  Local farmers aren't anonymous and they take their responsibility to the consumer seriously.


5.  Local food supports local families.  Wholesale prices that farmers get for their products are low, often near the cost of production.  Local farmers who sell directly to consumers cut out the middleman and get full retail price for their food, which helps the farm families stay on the land.


6.  Local food builds community.  When you buy direct from a farmer, you're engaging in a time-honored connection between eater and grower.  Knowing the farmer gives you insight into the seasons, the land, and your food...It gives you access to a place where your children and grandchildren can go to learn about nature and agriculture.


7.  Local food preserves open space.  When farmers get paid more for their products by marketing locally, they're less likely to sell their farmland for development.  When you buy locally grown food, you're doing something proactive to preserve our agricultural landscape.


8.  Local food keeps taxes down.  According to several studies, farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services, whereas most other kinds of development contribute less in taxes than the cost of the services they require.

9.  Local food benefits the environment and wildlife.  Well-managed farms conserve fertile soil and clean water in our communities.  The farm environment is a patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds, and buildings that provide habitat for wildlife.

10.  Local food is an investment in the future.  By supporting local farmers today, you are helping ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow.

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

Sorry for the lull in posts for the last couple months, but this summer slowly heated up, making it difficult to want to cook or bake with no air conditioning. On the bright side I did buy an ice cream maker to make the summer seem a little more bearable. I figured that I spend a considerable amount of money on ice cream, and I might as well buy the best quality ingredients and make my own. So I bought a Cuisinart Pure Indulgence 2-Quart Automatic Frozen Yogurt, Sorbet, and Ice Cream Maker.

For my first try I made the ice cream with just milk and sugar, but next time I will probably try adding eggs for a custard base. I am waiting for the book called Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments by Davd Lebovitz to be delivered from Amazon so I can become a serious ice cream creator.

I went to the Green Market and bought milk from Milk Thistle Farm. The woman who sold me my whole milk and heavy cream was very nice and wished me luck on my first batch of ice cream. Twenty-one dollars later (so expensive, but so worth it) I hopped on the subway uptown.

Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb is still going strong at the Green Market and I am still not sick of eating it. Tomorrow is the start of my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group so I am banking on some strawberries so I can begin my rhubarb strawberry combinations. Anyways, last weekend I made a rhubarb crisp. I love how old fashioned and simple a crisp can be. I also love anything that marries well with ice cream.

Sugar Snap Pea and Asparagus Pasta

The Green Market always has wonderful produce, but finally some of my favorites are making their way back. At the market you can find mounds of sugar snap peas, asparagus, radishes, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers - just to name a few. I love sugar snap peas. Their sweet flavor and fresh crunch make them wonderful raw, but they are also great along side asparagus. I found this pasta recipe on epicurious.com, but I have never strictly followed it. I simply use whatever amount of peas or asparagus I have on hand, and I am more than willing to grate more cheese than it calls for :) This a nice light pasta and comes together quickly with little effort.

Plant an Herb Garden!

A three day weekend - like this past Memorial Day holiday, is the perfect time to do a special project. For the past month, I have been talking about planting a herb garden since I missed the one I had last year so much. Finally I made my way down to the Green Market in Union Square and bought: Mexican tarragon, chives, sage, rosemary, lavender, thyme, as well as an heirloom tomato plant and a cayenne pepper plant. I only had enough soil to plant the sage, rosemary, lavender, thyme, and the tomato plant, but I will finish planting the rest next weekend when I buy the basil and couple other herbs I have been eying.

I Heart Asparagus

After months of anticipation, the Green Market finally has asparagus! I love asparagus. It has a grassy fresh taste that is delicious steamed, grilled, or sauted. It is high in antioxidants such as vitamins A and C and is also high in fiber and potassium.

Asparagus is a member of the Lily family and grows in sandy soil. The shoots have to be picked daily (depending on the amount of sunlight is can be less often), otherwise the asparagus will grow into a bushy plant if left unattended.

Look for asparagus with firm stalks and tightly closed tips. The thicker the stalks, the older the asparagus plant is. Wrap the stem ends with a moist paper towel and then wrap loosely in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days for best quality. You can also stand the stalks up in about 2 inches of water in the refrigerator.
A few weeks ago I went to the Food For Thought Film Festival and saw the documentary Asparagus! Stalking The American Life. It tells the story of Ocean County, Michigan's struggle to keep their asparagus industry afloat as the US government creates a Free Trade agreement with Peru in order to reduce drug production. Click here to watch the preview. It is a heartbreaking story, but the quirky community makes it fun to watch at the same time. To visit the movie's website click here.

Last night I made scrambled eggs with asparagus, ramps, and Shiitake mushrooms. It was simple and delicious. It was just a bit of chopping :) I based it off a Gourmet Magazine recipe that called for Morel mushrooms. I couldn't find Morels at the Green Market, so I opted for Shiitake. You can find dried Morels at most grocery stores, which would be a good alternative. Click here for the original Scrambled Eggs with Ramps, Morels, and Asparagus recipe.
For information about asparagus click here.

For more asparagus recipes click here.

Ramps!

Goodies from the Green Market on 4/11/09: Maple Candy, Fingerling Potatoes, Ramps, and Apple Donuts.

I went to the Green Market in Union Square last weekend and came across ramps. I had eyed them last year, but wasn't for sure what to do with them. This year I decided I wasn't going to miss my chance. I did a little research to figure out what exactly ramps are. There are couple of posts on The Kitchen blog, as well as recipes on Epicurious and Martha Stewart. Yet nothing sums up what a ramp is as well as The New Food Lover's Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. This book is a thick dictionary describing cooking terms and foods. According to page 560:

"This wild onion grows from Canada to the Carolinas and resembles a scallion with broad leaves. Also known as a wild leek, ramp has an assertive, garlicky-onion flavor. It can be found - usually only in specialty produce markets - from March to July. Choose those that are firm with bright-colored greenery. Wrap tightly in a plastic bag and refrigerate for up to a week. Trim the root ends just before using. Though the flavor of a ramp is slightly stronger than the leek, scallion, or onion, it can be used - raw or cooked - in many dishes as a substitute for any of those three."

You can do a lot with ramps if you start thinking about them as an onion, scallion, or leek. You can roast them with potatoes, sprinkle them in miso soup, scatter them in a frittata or toss them in pasta like I did last night.

Here are some recipe suggestions:

Roasted chicken, Ramps, and Potatoes
Scrambled Eggs with Ramps, Morels, and Asparagus
Spaghetti with Ramps

CSA!

Photo by x-eyedblonde via flickr

Last year I moved from Kansas to New York. Although at times it feels like I am living in a concrete jungle, there are some wonderful spots to remind me that there is greenery here. Besides Central Park, there are a variety of Greenmarket Farmers Markets throughout the city. At the markets, vendors sell fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, as well as baked goods, jam, and even yarn. The markets I most frequent are at Union Square (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday - All year round) and Morningside Park (Saturdays - June through November). Every Saturday I would wake up and head down to Union Square to get some apple donuts and hot cider and then buy whatever fruit or vegetable suited my fancy. At Union Square it is pretty crowded, but it is still worth going and meeting the people that made, raised, or grew your food. When you go to a farmers market, you know that you are getting the freshest produce and eating in season.