To Market with Mo: climb every mountain...
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
March. Hum, still winter in Chicago. Still three months until summer begins. And still five months before tomato season begins. I don't know about you, but right about now I start going thru (ok, really started after I ate my last homegrown tomato in early October) MAJOR real vine-ripened tomato withdrawl. No, do not tell me to just pick some up at the grocery store. Oh, you mean those unripe, ethylene-manipulated tomato imposters? No. Those. Just. Won't. Do.
I will eat real vine-ripened tomatoes, from the farmers market, or from my backyard, during the season, until I have the worst acid stomach, and acid burned tongue, from all my fresh tomato over-indulgence. Now, ask me to eat the out-of-season, grocery-store variety, well you can forget about it. When I eat a tomato, I want to taste summer, not mealy, tasteless mush.
Enough of my rant. I have found the solution for us tomato loving purists...
Tomato Mountain Organics. Growing, and harvesting the best, and ripest tomatoes (and other ingredients) and transforming them into what I consider jars of summer. Tomato based salsas, pasta sauce, soup, preserves, juice and wow, the best Bloody Mary mix, ever.
Tomato Mountain Farm, located about a 2 1/2 drive north into Wisconsin, is not only the farm that organically grows all of the ingredients, and picks them at the peak of freshness, but they also process all of their jarred products, in their own processing kitchen...hence, why all of their products taste like jars of sunshine.
mo
moira@efete.net
Know of any other markets coming up? Send me a note at moira@efete.net.
Labels: seasonal organic produce, Tomato Mountain Organics, tomatoes
To Market with Mo: Acrimonious Rose
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
No, no, no, not accepting that Summer is over. Yes, as of yesterday, and confirmed by my favorite weatherman, Tom Skilling, it is now officially Fall. And indications of the season are confirming said season change -- apples, pears, and pumpkins, yeah, pumpkins, have shown up to the party that I am not quite ready for. I love what the Fall harvest has to offer, but I am still trying to hang on desperately to Summer...that first blustery day and I will have to get past the denial stage.
Meanwhile, before I fully accept the season I am going to ease in with something that has been with us since the first days of the markets in the form of tender green and delicate scapes to the now fully developed mature, parchment covered heads. Garlic.
I mean really, what can't you eat garlic with? Pretty hard-pressed to find a culture that does not use the 'stinking rose' culinarily or medicinally. Okay, the Irish and Brits were slow to jump on the band wagon, but I think they are fully engaged now. Pretty sure my Irish grandmother never used a clove of garlic in her cooking. On the other side, my Ukrainian grandfather was big on consuming cloves of raw garlic, and ya wonder why he lived into his 90's.
Rather pungent when raw, garlic mellows and sweetens when cooked. And the finer the chop, the stronger the taste, ie. crushed is way stronger than a whole clove - guess that explains why the infamous "Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic" isn't completely overpowered by the intact 40 cloves.
Look for firm, dry heads that are covered in plenty of the parchment-like skin. Signs of green shoots? Too old. Each head of garlic should yield between 10-20 cloves of garlic depending on the variety. Garlic needs to breath, so store garlic in a cool, dry spot out of direct sunlight. DO NOT store in the fridge or in oil. How long is it going to last? Well that all depends on the age, variety, and how the garlic was handled when harvested. But, being that we only have a bit more than a month of outdoor farmers markets left, start stocking up on heads of garlic.
Tomatoes did not 'get the memo' about the season change, so they are still to be had at the markets. And paired with some fresh chopped garlic, basil, salt and olive oil? No wonder I haven't left summer. But since it will get cooler and ovens all over the city are being turned on, here is an easy and scrumptious way to enjoy all those heads of garlic.
Roasted Garlic
1 head of garlic (contrary to former fads, resist 'elephant' garlic, it is oh so bland)
drizzle of olive oil
sea salt
cracked black pepper
fresh thyme (optional)
lemon zest (optional)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cut the top 1/3 off the garlic head. Place garlic head on a piece of foil. Drizzle olive oil on the garlic. Sprinkle salt, pepper, thyme and lemon zest on the garlic. Wrap foil, leaving some 'breathing' room. Roast in oven for one to 1 1/2 hours, until the garlic is soft and golden, Use to slather on crusty bread (check out Bennison's Bakery at a number of area farmers markets) or mix into mashed potatoes, or spread on grilled chicken, beef or meaty fish.
Labels: Bennisons Bakery, Chicago Farmers Markets, garlic, Green City Market, seasonal organic produce, tomatoes
To Market with Mo: Toe-May-Toe, Toe-MAH-Toe
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
If I were to take a guess what would be the one fruit or veg that people look forward to every summer it would have to be tomatoes. Farm fresh or homegrown, ripened by the warm summer sunshine. Like berries, and tomatoes are actually a berry, I could just eat them right off the vine. So, so, so not your grocery store, hothouse, stand-in for a tomato but the real deal, and the 'real deal' is starring at your local farmers market now thru early Fall (thru November if you are a tomato grown in my yard, then again the only ripe tomatoes on my vines right now are the tiny super sweet 100's. Can you say 'cooler near the lake' effect?).
So many heirloom varieties at the markets right now, from the aforementioned tiny super sweet 100's, to Green Zebras, Pink Brandywines, Purple Cherokees, Mr. Stripeys, Fuzzy Peaches (yep, they are fuzzy), to the big Mortgage Lifters, just to name a few of the 7500 varieties (know globally) that you might find at your local farmers market.
Gratefully, tomatoes don't need much prep or cook time to really enjoy. Sliced and sprinkled with some salt, pepper, fresh basil and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and there's your salad for the evening meal. Or, with the aid of your blender or food processor and a few additional ingredients, gazpacho, for the perfect summer lunch or starter (man, those Spaniards were onto something when they came up with gazpacho). Any who doesn't love a tomato and bread combo? Be it tomatoes and mayo between two slices of white bread, or bruscetta or a panzanella salad? And all of this without having to cook a thing.
Look for tomatoes that are firm and smooth-skinned but have some give, and are split and blemish-free. Now when you get them home please, please, please whatever you do, do not even think about putting your tomatoes in the fridge where they will lose their flavor quickly and become mealy to boot. Back away from the fridge and store them, 'stem side' up at room temperature and in indirect light. Ripe tomatoes are good for a few days like this and if you have any that need a bit more ripening your are good for about a week. Past that, get ready to make and freeze some marinara sauce.
When I am feeling like something more 'cooked' but don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen, here is the perfect pasta with a 'no cook' summer tomato sauce.
"No Cook" Tomato-Basil Pasta
1 lb spaghetti, bucati or linguine pasta
1 lb. mix of heirloom cherry or grape varieties of tomatoes (cut each in half)
2-3 cloves of garlic sliced thin
3-4 T fresh basil chopped (or mix a variety of summer herbs like marjoram, parsley, thyme or oregano)
2-3 T extra virgin olive oil
Salt (sea or kosher) & cracked black pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese
Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water. Return pot to a medium temperature burner. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the sliced garlic (kick it up a bit more and add a pinch of chili flakes as well) and cook until tender. Turn off the burner. Add the pasta back into the pot of garlic and olive oil. Toss together until pasta is coated. Add the tomatoes and an additional tablespoon of olive oil and toss. The tomatoes will begin to 'cook'. Add the chopped herbs and salt and pepper. If the pasta is seeming a bit 'dry' for your liking, stir in some of the reserved pasta water. Plate the pasta and then top with freshly grated parmesan cheese. And there's dinner.
P.S. for a variation, a bit of crumbled bacon zings this dish up nicely.
Love to hear about some of your favorite tomato preparations and recipes. email me at moira@efete.net
Labels: Chicago Farmers Market, heirloom tomato, seasonal organic produce, tomatoes
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