Brooklyn Forager

IMG_0162, originally uploaded by Brooklyn Forager.

(Please forgive the quality of the photos lately. Camera issues, so I'm relying on the old iPhone)

A quick breeze through the farmers' market over the weekend brought us a last blast spelt salad complete with all local ingredients. I found some beautiful heirloom tomatoes including a green zebra, some crisp cucumbers and radishes. With these, I chopped up some fresh basil and mint from our garden and tossed them all in a red wine vinaigrette. The final ingredient was some warm local spelt cooked in vegetable broth and white wine. I tossed the vegetables and the warm spelt together and got a nice warm grain salad with lovely crunch and late summer flavors.

Watermelon, Peach and Basil Salad, originally uploaded by Brooklyn Forager.

We traveled up to the Great North Woods and stayed in a cabin with friends for the weekend. Saturday night was our night to cook and while I wasn't able to make a completely local dinner, I did make this lovely Watermelon, Peach and Basil Salad for dinner.

The recipe came from Mark Bittman's 101 Salads article and is simply delicious. His first choice is watermelon and tomato which I've made to great success. I couldn't find non-red tomatoes at the food co-op, so I used his backup suggestion this time around, the peaches. So good!

The watermelon was grown in Maryland and purchased in NY. The peaches were grown in PA and purchased in VT. The basil was grown in VT and purchased in VT. Salad dressing items were pantry staples.

Watermelon, Peach and Basil Salad (serves 6)

1 small watermelon (mini-watermelon worked perfectly)
3 fresh not-too-ripe peaches (a little texture goes a long way)
2-3 big handfuls of basil (or to taste)
olive oil
sherry vinegar
sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper

Chop up the fruit and tear up the basil. Mix well. At this stage, set aside and dress just before serving. When preparing the dressing, make to taste and be creative.

This week brought me a lovely set of local bluefish fillets from FreshDirect.  Borrowing from the Baked Fish Nicosia from Moosewood's Sunday Night Suppers, I dredged the fillets in cornmeal mixed with a hint of cumin, coriander and cayenne.  I pan-fried these lightly in oil and served with a fresh tomato salsa of local tomatoes, basil, and garlic, all tossed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sea salt and pepper.

To complement this, I made yet another kitchen-clean-up salad with Satur Farms butterhead lettuce, radishes, scallions and cucumbers along with a medley of homegrown herbs (parsley, Italian basil, Greek basil, mint and sage). 

I also enjoyed a bottle of the Benmarl Slate Hill white which is a slightly sweet blend of Chardonnay, Viognier, Riesling and Traminette.  The wine was a rich golden color with hints of citrus and soft floral notes.  This is a great summer sipping wine, either with seafood or tart fruits and cheeses to help balance the sweet and crisp flavors. 

Pictures of all to follow.

FreshDirect: bluefish fillets, Satur Farms lettuce

Farmers' Market: radishes, scallions, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic

Homegrown: Italian basil, Greek basil, parsley, sage, mint

This week, we had a kitchen clean-up meal before a trip down to Pensacola, FL. In order to use up the vast amounts of produce sitting in my fridge, I made a meal composed chiefly of salads. The first salad was a simple tomato salad with a combination of the very first little tomato that grew on our very own patio (see photo above), homegrown basil, salt and pepper. The second salad was a fairly diverse one made up of all local items: butterhead lettuce from Satur Farms, carrots, cucumbers, scallions, garlic scapes and radishes from Phillips Farm, and a not-so-local dressing. The taste was bright and fresh and incredibly local!

This week was another hectic week that culminated in a lovely evening with girlfriends in front of the television. I was too crazed to cook, but came up with a spread of hors d'oeuvres that served us well and were about 98% local.

In order to stock up on snacks at the last minute, I explored a new farmers market - the Fulton Stall Market (that will probably be a post on its own coming shortly). I picked up an organic multigrain baguette from Bread Alone, a rainbow of carrots and the first cucumbers of the season (for me), and a locally-produced hummus (as you might expect, the chickpeas were not so local).

I pulled this together with a cheese plate of the local pecorino-style cheese that I tried last week, Yancey's aged cheddar, and a blue cheese spread which family brought down from VT on a visit the previous week. It was local to them, so it counts as local to me!

The piece de resistance (although now getting to be a regular treat on my weekly menus) was a set of crostini featuring the Valley Shepherd fresh ricotta and garlic scapes from the farmers' market sauteed in a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

The wine we drank was from Portugal, and so I didn't go the full nine yards on this one, but I enjoyed the wine quite a bit and will be looking further into one of the wines in particular (I didn't drink them with reporting back in mind, but the Portuguese red table wine was probably review-worthy and certainly budget-friendly. I will make a point to get it again and see what I can do).

FreshDirect Local: Yancey's Fancy Cheddar
Brooklyn Farmers' Market: garlic scapes, radishes, pecorino cheese
Fulton Stall Farmers' Market: baguette, carrots, cucumbers, hummus
Local gift from out of town: blue cheese spread
Pantry staples: olive oil, black pepper, balsamic