This week at the farmers market: 7/9/13

I thought I would start a weekly feature and show what I buy each week at the farmers' market since I love shopping there.  I try to do most of my shopping for the week either there or at my favorite farm stand. Since the farm stand is only open one afternoon a week and it happens to be the same afternoon as the farmers' market, I just make one big trip each week. So here is what I got this week: 

1 dozen eggs (freshly laid today), 1 head of napa cabbage, big container of strawberries, 1 bunch of carrots, several heads of broccoli, 3 zucchini, 1 cucumber, 2 peppers, 2lbs apricots, and 2lbs peaches.  I also got a few treats: 1 freshly squeezed lemonade, 1 freshly squeezed organic orange juice, and 1 apricot walnut puff pastry. I would have gotten cherries, but they were sold out by the time I got there.

I'm still deciding what I want to do with it all- so many possibilities.  I think the cabbage will turn into a chinese cabbage salad since I actually have toasted sesame oil in the house and the salad holds up well in the heat (unlike mayo based salads).  My family is coming to town this weekend and we are going to a lake on Sunday so cabbage salad would be great to take to that.  I can't decide if I want to can any of the apricots or dry them instead. I have cashews that need to be used so I think a slightly tweaked version of Joy the Baker's Vegan Cream of Broccoli soup sounds good. In the past I've made zucchini fritters with a yogurt dipping sauce that turned out really well and since I have goat milk to make yogurt with, the fritters will probably be made again. The carrots, pepper, and cucumber will go well with all the lettuce I have growing for salads, although I was thinking of making a quick refrigerator pickle with the cucumber.  Any other ideas? What would you do with all that produce?  What's growing in your area?

Scrambled

It has been hot. Simple and quick meals are in order. This can work for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Most of the ingredients are local as well. 

I went to the farm stand today and the only eggs they had left were 4 turkey eggs. I thought they would be interesting to try. I picked some lambs quarters, basil, sage, rosemary, chives, and one pea. I sautéed all of that in butter with green onions and young garlic that I had chopped and frozen. Then I added salt, pepper, and some local raw milk cheddar cheese. I toasted some new to me gluten free bread and then rubbed it with garlic and a little butter. Added some fruit (local strawberries) to the mix and it was a yummy, healthy 5-10 minute meal. 

Gluten-free pancakes

Gluten-free pancakes
Make a basic gluten-free pancake mix and then add beet root powder, chia seeds, and orange zest.  So good, and the beet root powder makes them pink!  You can add as much or as little as you like.
My recipe is similar to this:
1 C gluten-free flour mix (King Arthur, Bob's Red Mill, etc)
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
pinch baking soda and salt
freshly grated nutmeg, and sometimes some cinnamon
1 tsp orange zest
1-2 TBL chia seeds
3/4 C- 1 C milk (local, organic, non-homogenized cow's milk or nut milk)
1-2 TBL beet root powder
3-4 TBL coconut oil or butter (I melt it in the cooking pan and then pour most of it into the pancake mixture, leaving a bit in the pan to cook the pancakes in)
Whisk everything together.
Can also add berries and/or nuts while cooking.
Serve with real maple syrup, honey, or berry sauce.

I do not suggest using most gluten-free flour mixes a lot, as they can still contain starches that spike your blood sugar quite high.  I have not tried this with almond or coconut flour. The nutmeg and orange zest give it great flavor, and the chia seeds add a nice light crunch. They are great serves with real maple syrup.

Sunday happenings

Today

Tomato seedlings growing

We also have onion, peppers, and some medicinal herbs started indoors.  Outdoors we have some poppies and greens going.  We also planted peas, but they haven't come up yet.

Brunch-Vegetable herb goat cheese omelet 

Bell peppers, greens, garlic, farm fresh eggs, goat cheese, dill, thyme, sea salt, pepper, and Braggs sea kelp delight seasoning

This morning we were out in the yard planting our second apricot tree and a neighbor we had never met came over to talk.  Turns out he is an arborist. He said he could give us pruning pointers and such, which is great because we are planning to put in a mini-orchard. 

Caramels

So, here's a great way to use some of that homemade butter:

Homemade Caramels!

My husband and I made these at Christmas for gifts, and although they turned out as a hard caramel instead of soft, like I was planning, they were so delicious!

I found the recipe from a 1936 candy making book entitled: "How to Make Candy" by Walter W. Chenoweth.  (good book by the way- taught me a lot)

Honey Caramels
3/4 lb (3/4 cup) brown sugar
1/2 lb (1 cup) granulated sugar
1/2 lb (2/3 c) corn syrup
1/4 lb (1/3 up) honey
1 ounce (2 TBL) butter
1/2 cup light cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Procedure: Mix all the materials except the butter and vanilla, and cook by moderate to rapid boiling to approximately 230 degrees F, at which time add the butter and boil slowly to 36-37 degrees F above the temperature of boiling water on the thermometer being used, or to a medium hard ball by the water test.  Remove from the fire, and when the bubbles have subsided stir in the vanilla and pour into a very lightly buttered pan.  When cool remove from pan to cutting board, cut into suitable size pieces and wrap in waxed paper.
*This will give a caramel with a honey flavor and will have good keeping quality.

My notes: I think I overheated it just slightly, which just gave me a harder caramel- much like the conistency of CoffeeNips.  However, because of the different consistency, I had some issues with cutting and packaging.  Everything still turned out fine, but I would recommend waiting until they are COMPLETELY cool to wrap in waxed paper- I was impatient and was rewarded with paper stuck to a few of them.  Paper is edible, though, right? ;)

The bottom line is that these are very yummy, and you should make them- don't be intimidated! 
I'll be trying these again soon, and I will take pictures of the process then.

Homemade Butter!

When I was in Kindergarten, I remember Mrs. Lively taking us all into the kitchen one day, giving us a container with a milky substance in it, and telling us to shake it. And, shake it some more. And, more.
Then, all of a sudden the milky substance became clear-ish, and there was a lump in that container.
I re-lived that experience today, almost 20 years later.
Here is my lump:

All it took was a little heavy cream, a clean canning jar, and about 20 minutes of shaking.
Once it separated into butter and the (real) buttermilk, I poured the buttermilk into the bread dough I was starting, and rinsed the butter blob in cool water until it ran clear. Then, I put it in my butter dish and sprinkled it with sea salt. Now I'm just waiting for my bread to finish rising and bake so this beautiful butter can be enjoyed slathered on a warm, fresh piece of bread. Yum!

In the process of making the butter, it first turned to whip cream, and I don't think I will ever use a machine to make whipped cream again! It's just too much fun to shake it, and the clean up is easier, in my opinion.

Now, I just have to get my hands on some of the rich, yellow colored local cream from the dairy down the road and try this again...