Restaurant Widow

Mini Kiwi

I was interviewing Stephen Beard from North Market Produce yesterday when one of his employees mentioned they had mini kiwi.  Well of course I had to try those.  These are real kiwis, just tiny, and hairless.  They taste like regular kiwi, with a musky sweet flavor reminiscent of Muscat.  Perfect for packing in lunch boxes, these little babies are $2.49 for a half-pint box.  The third picture has a dime in the frame for comparison.  You should go buy some.  They're good.  And cute to boot.

Pictorial Meditation for Winter

The snow is melting, it's a seemingly balmy 45 degrees outside, and walking around outside is a battle between the ice and the 3 inches of gray sludge on top of it.  Yes, it is late winter in Central Ohio.  Lest we all begin to fear spring and summer will never come, I thought I might prepare this slide show so we might all remember that it's the cold, gray, foggy, sludgey days which make the summer so much more beautiful.  Click on the thumnail to see the larger picture; don't forget to look at all three pages. . . Here's to summer!  Cheers!

(To get your own cool Flickr sideshow, click the "info" button at the bottom of this post - it's very easy!)

CSA & Market Report for November 4th

The North Market was this week reduced to only a few few vendors - selling mostly apples, apple cider, greens, garlic and potatoes.  I swung through long enough to contemplate buying 7 varieties of potato, but dismissed the thought almost as soon as it hit. 

My CSA box this week included rutabagas! oh, how I love, love rutabagas - one of the most ignored of the cruciferous veggies.  I can't wait to make a little pork chop on roasted rutabagas.  And who doesn't love saying roasted rutabagas?  Along with the rutabagas were carrots, potatoes, garlic, onions, radishes, greens (a good thing since my crisper froze everything last week), scallions and eggs.  I have only 2 weeks left for my box and then my body will still wake up at 7:30 on Saturday mornings and wonder why it isn't getting up and buying produce. 

CSA & Market Report for October 21st

Radish pods - aren't they fun?  A strange mix of sweet, watery crispness with a hot radishy bite at the end, good raw in salads or stir fried - I'll let you know what I find to do with them (these came from the Wayward Seed farm).
My CSA box this week included eggs, lettuce mix, mixed mustard and other greens, potatoes, cilantro (which I donated to another, cilantro-loving member), radishes, green tomatoes, and this cute dumpling squash:

And now, a photo montage of my other purchases, most of which came from the Wayward Seed Farm (of course, I also purchased the week's shitake mushrooms from Toby Run, and onions, peppers and Brussels sprouts from Dearsman farms, but you've seen those all a million times before).

Small purple kohlrabi:

Purple scallions and undeveloped cippolini onions:

And a nice bunch of garlic from Just This Farm, who has a new website and is currently accepting orders for turkeys, one of whom I met Saturday at the Farmer's Market.  Furthermore, they are selling boxes of many of the ingredients needed for Thanksgiving dinner for $48, so you can have a local Thanksgiving.:

CSA & Market Report for October 14th

It's getting cold here, folks.  Saturday morning marked the inaugural wearing of corduroy for this frumpy foodie (I'm a generation Xer: I have always had, and will always have, an affinity for corduroy; although my flannel fixation pretty much died with Kurt Cobain).  The markets were thin this week, both in the farmers and the crowds, and they were both filled with pumpkins, gourds, apples & apple cider, and decorative ears of corn.  I toyed with the idea of making a cold storage area in the old boiler room in my basement (what I like to affectionately refer to as my "wine cellar," although we're lucky to have 25 bottles at any given time), but I haven't done it, and I'm not sure if I will - somehow I don't picture myself lugging 100 pounds of squash onions home just to test out my storage ability, but who knows.

We are in that fleeting time of year when all of the greens and root vegetables, because of the chill in the air, are remarkably sweet and delicious.  Not to mention lovely to gaze upon.  Witness this radish:

My CSA box this week included radishes (pictured above), baby greens, lettuce mix, tiny heads of red cabbage, bok choy, eggs, scallions, mixed gourds, garlic, and a pumpkin!  I still have four weeks of my CSA left and only now am I finally to the point where I am putting everything to good use, even if it all goes into the pasta bowl (I did another one of those today, but I'll spare you another garbage-bowl pasta redux).  I am planning to subscribe to the Elizabeth Telling CSA again next year, and I would recommend it to those of you who have been a little disappointed by the lack of variety in some other CSAs.  Not that I am knocking any other farmers, of course, but I think Elizabeth Telling is perfect for adventurous but small families - there won't be pounds and pounds of beans or anything, just about enough to feed one or two people, but there's always a nice variety.  Enough preaching.  On with the slim pickins of the rest of the market (pictured below is my lovely gourd selection):

From Wayward Seed farm at the North Market I bought a little more salsify, since I know I probably won't be seeing it again until this time next year.  It's actually quite tasty raw.  Husband cooked it into beef stew last week and I didn't document it, but I will try to cook some up this week to give an idea of how to use it.  I also bought these lovely, fat little carrots whose name I've forgotten.  They look like little tops.  We discussed the sweetness of carrots due to the cold, and I have been very happy with my carrot purchases from numerous farmers over the past few weeks, so I'll note it for next year: carrots are best in late September through October.  I might even have a little carrot-salsify saute for dinner, who knows.

That was about all for the markets.  I swung through the Worthington market with the express purpose of picking up my weekly dose of Honeycrisps - another thing to get better with the cold are these sweet and juicy apples - one a day keeps me a healthy girl!  I also stopped by Wishwell farms for a jar of their great hot sweet pepper relish and a few pounds of redskin potatoes, now that Arbor Hill Organics has packed it up for the season.  It's hard to believe that something like a potato could taste so differently when purchased from a farmer, but this past week Husband bought a bag of potatoes from a (reputable) grocery store and we both agreed they tasted strangely like dirt, and not in a good way. I am going to miss the pounds of wonderful potatoes I've purchase all year from my farmers.  Maybe I should think about that cold storage area after all . . .

This Week in Food Shopping

Just a few crumbs of news from the local grocery scene:

Sunflower Market, which claims to be an affordable choice in wholesome & organic foods, will open its first Columbus Store in the South Campus Gateway (9th Ave and High St.) project tomorrow, September 13th.  Another store on the Northwest side (Olentangy Plaza on Bethel Road) will open October 11th.  Hours for both will be daily 8am - 10pm. 

Whole Foods Market, reacting to criticism they don't place a high enough priority on local products, will have 4 weeks of farmer's markets outside their Dublin Store (161 at Sawmill road).  The markets will take place Sunday, September 17th through Sunday, October 8th.  You better believe I'll be there.

Happy shopping!

Hot Nectarine Chutney

I suppose you could also call this a compote, if you happen to hate the word chutney.  I made this little condiment from the bounty of last week's farmer's market - nectarines from Gillogly orchard, chiles from another vendor at the Worthington Farmer's Market who I've sadly forgotten, onions from my CSA - and I served it on top of pork chops I purchased from Oink!Moo!Cluck! farm, also at the Worthington Farmer's Market.  OMC farm has the hands-down best set up at the market; I will have to take a picture of it tomorrow to show you, dear readers.  The pork chops were very tasty and they were perfectly packaged for Husband and me - there was a giant chop for Husband and a baby one for me.  I think the lady selling it to me thought I was crazy when I said that to her - she looked at me like "yes, there are 2 chops in there, good for you."  I had to point out the size difference.  I also served my green beans with bacon for green bean haters, which you can read about here.

But!  I digress!  You could, of course, substitute peaches here.  You can also add the fruit all at once, but I like to have some of the fruit soft and jammy, and some still with a little toothiness to it.  The chutney should end up sweet and fruity with a surprising hot kick.  Very nice on pork or duck, and probably on rabbit, too.

Hot Nectarine Chutney - makes about 6 ounces or so

olive oil
2 small red onions, or one small onion and one shallot
salt
1 small red chile, seeded and very finely chopped
2 white nectarines, chopped into 1/2" dice
fruity vinegar (I used Trader Joe's pomegranate vinegar, which is perfect here)
1 tbsp sugar

Heat a little olive oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat and add the onions and a pinch of salt, cooking gently for about 3 minutes, until they begin to soften, then add the chile and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add half of the nectarines and deglaze the pan with 1 tbsp of the vinegar.  Sprinkle the sugar over, lower the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until the fruit is very soft - 10 minutes or so, adding vinegar as necessary to moisten the pan.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Add the remaining fruit and cook until fruit is softened but not mushy, another 5 minutes or so.

Thanks, Peaches

Confidential to Peach Delivery Service - I thank you, and my coworkers thank you.  These are tasty peaches.

To everyone else - Don't you wish you had cool friends who left you pecks of peaches after they went on road trips? 

As a side note:  I hope my website doesn't seem uninspired lately.  In case you haven't been near a TV lately, we are in the midst of a heat wave, not to mention it is so humid I feel like I'm trying to breathe water.  As a result, nearly everything I've been consuming lately has been raw.  I promise to eat somewhere fun this weekend and tell you all about it.  Or at least show you my latest Rigsby's pictures . . .

Summer Breakfast - Fruit

From the Gillogly Orchard (Saturdays at the Worthington Farmer's Market) comes this week's favorite breakfast - nectarines and blueberries.  Advice from Ms. Gillogly on the handling of peaches and nectarines is to leave out that fruit which you plan to eat within 24 hours, refrigerating the rest until the day before you are going to eat it, allowing it to warm to room temperature before consuming.  One reason it is nearly impossible to find good peaches and nectarines in a supermarket, aside from the fact that they are harvested when rock hard, is that the pectins tends to break down when the fruit is stored at temperatures under 45 degrees, causing mealy flesh.  For this reason, you should consume peaches and nectarines as soon after picking as possible, with as little refrigeration as possible.  If you must refrigerate them, place them in a warmer part of the fridge, such as the door.  Fun fact about peaches and nectarines, according to the Penguin Companion to Food: peach trees will sometimes bear nectarines, and nectarine trees will sometimes bear peaches.  Don't say I've never taught you anything.

This is a great way to get some good servings of fruit into your diet - here I have 3 servings, which make for a great energy boost at the start of the day, providing you with quality fiber and a few vitamins as well.  To make it even better for you, add a cup of low fat vanilla yogurt - then it can be dessert!  Adding just a touch of sugar helps release the juices.  Sadly, it is about the end of the blueberries for the year - fortunately they freeze very well!  Just place them in freezer bags and freeze, or place on parchment-lined sheet trays and allow them to freeze in a single layer overnight, then place them into freezer bags - this makes eating them frozen, out of hand, easier on a hot day.

Summer Breakfast for One

2 small nectarines, cut into chunks
1/2 cup blueberries
1 tsp sugar

Place fruit in bowl and toss with sugar - allow to sit for 1/2 hour, placing in fridge if you are trying to keep you fruit fly population down.  Eat and enjoy!

2 small nectarines contain 120 calories, 4 grams of fiber, 18% vitamin A, 24% vitamin C, and 22% potassium, making them great if you are headed to the gym!  1/2 cup blueberries contain 41 calories, 2 grams fiber, 12% vitamin C, 23% vitamin K and 12% of manganese.

Muskmelon

You have no idea how good this smells!  After buying it from Wenger's produce at the Worthington Farmer's Market, I could smell it while I was driving and it was in the trunk of my car!  According to the Penguin Companion to Food, the delicious flavor of melons is masked by refrigeration, so I plan to eat this one at room temperature, with just a little salt.

How can you tell if a melon is ripe?  Press the end opposite the stem end; it should yield to pressure.  Summer melons, such as this muskmelon, will not ripen very much after being picked; "winter," or late autum melons, will continue to ripen after being picked.