Cold Day, Warm Soup

So, I'll start off by saying that I didn't actually make it to a farmers market today. My day was taken up by running my first 5K race in just over 30 minutes! I know 5K isn't that far, but for someone who couldn't run a mile 3 months ago it was a big deal.

So instead of making a meal from ingredients I bought at the farmers market, I decided to make a dish where it was possible to get most of the ingredients at a typical farmers market.

One of my favorite dishes on a cold day is soup, and there's no other soup for me than my mom's cream of mushroom soup. The earthiness of the mushrooms blends well with the complexity of the sherry, warming your insides. I think the original recipe actually came from a cookbook that my mother got for her engagement to my father in the 1960s, but I'll always think of it as my mom's creation. Here's the recipe with a couple of minor personal tweaks.

Today I purchased:

Ingredients that could be bought at the farmers market:
3/4 of a pound of mushrooms (the original recipe calls for button mushrooms, but I like to mix button and crimini)
1 medium onion
Heavy cream
Parsley

At a supermarket:
Celery (if you're lucky you might be able to find this at the farmers market as well)
Chicken Stock

Supplemental ingredients I had at home:
Salted butter
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
Paprika
Dry sherry or sherry cooking wine
Flour

Recipe: Mom's Cream of Mushroom Soup

Ingredients
1/2 lb. of button mushrooms, diced
1/4 lb. of crimini mushrooms, diced
4 tablespoons of butter
Medium onion, minced
1 celery stalk, diced
3 cups of chicken stock
2 tablespoons of parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons of butter
Salt
Pepper
A pinch of paprika
A grating of nutmeg
2 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of heavy cream
4 - 8 tablespoons of sherry (I usually add 6, but I like a strong sherry taste)

Saute the celery, onion, and mushrooms on medium-high heat in the 4 TBS of butter until the mushrooms begin to release their juices, and the onion begins to soften.

Add the stock and parsley, simmer covered for ½ hour.

Puree the soup in the blender or food processor. I usually find that there's too much liquid to puree the soup all at once, so I usually do it in 2 batches so the hot liquid doesn't shoot out of the top of the blender. Unfortunately, that was a learn by experience lesson. Once the soup is pureed, poor it into a bowl and reserve.

Melt the 2 TBS of butter in the original pan, add the salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, and flour. Cook for two minutes, whisking constantly. Add pureed soup, cream, and sherry. Whisk until smooth.

I like to let it cool a few minutes before serving. I feel that the flavors come out more when it's not piping hot. I served the soup in a bowl with a parsley garnish. I hope this soup reminds you of your mother's soup, or maybe it will be like the soup you wish your mother made. Welcome to fall!

Trip to Jersey

As reported in my last post I took a trip to Jersey to visit a friend on Sunday. I took the 9:10am NJ transit train so that I could get out there early enough to make the farmers market. A good portion of the fruits and vegetables that we get in NYC come from the farms in New Jersey, so I thought why not hit them right at the source. Almost every community in the state seems to have its own market. My friend lives in Milburn, but their's is mid-week, so we drove twenty minutes to the Morristown market.

Located in a parking lot behind a Dunkin Donuts, the Morristown market was small compared to the Union Square market, but I thought it still had plenty of variety. They also had a couple of stands that I haven't seen in NY like the Pirogi and sausage stand. I should mention up front that this isn't going to be a normal post. My friend did most of the cooking and I didn't get a chance to take photos of the dish, but I'll post the recipe anyway. We had decided to make a linguine in clam sauce as well as a salad. Right away I notice these wonderful purple peppers for the salad. Peppers come in so many different varieties. These were basic, but they came in a variety of colors. That, plus some lettuce, a jersey field tomato, and some fresh lettuce created a basic salad with some oil and balsamic dressing that hit the spot.

While still at the vegetable stand we purchased some of the largest jalapeno peppers I've ever seen! I'm always buying the small ones that could fit in your hand, and I find they have better flavor, but these couldn't be beat if you wanted to have some impressive looking peppers with a little kick in your dish.

I'll admit to you that we didn't end up getting our clams at the market. For some reason they were very expensive there. A bag of little necks was $20. We ended up getting a dozen for about $5.00 at Whole Foods, but I have seen them for close to the Whole Foods price at the farmers markets in NYC. Maybe the inland location was affecting the cost. But if you are willing to buy the $20 bag, they do have them at this particular market.

I rounded out the market by getting a container of new pickles that I am terribly sad I forgot at my friend's apartment at the end of the day, and a great crusty baguette. That concluded our trip, but I must admit it was nice getting out of the city for a change.

Today I bought:

At the farmers market:

1 head of lettuce

1 Jersey field tomato

1 basket of cherry tomatoes

1 purple pepper

1 large jalapeno pepper

1 pint of new pickles

1 baguette

At Whole Foods:

1 dozen little neck clams

Supplementary ingredients my friend had:

Garlic

Linguine

White cooking wine

Shallot

Olive oil
3 large mushrooms

Thyme

Recipe: Linguine in Clam Sauce

Ingredients

1 lb of linguine

3 or 4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
1 dozen little neck clams

1-2 dozen cherry tomatoes, halved

1 shallot, minced
3 mushrooms sliced

1/2 cup of white wine

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 tablespoon of fresh thyme

Start the water for the pasta, cook as directed on the box. Heat the oil on medium heat in a large saute pan that has a cover. Add the garlic and shallot and saute for a minute until the shallots begin to sweat, but before the garlic browns. Add in the pepper and saute a minute more. My friend sliced the pepper into large chunks, but I don't like my spicy peppers to be that big so I would dice it. Add the mushrooms and saute until they begin to brown. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put the clams in the pan and add the white wine. Throw in the tomatoes and the thyme. Cover and let simmer until the clams open up. If it doesn't look like there's enough liquid you can add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water. Once the clams are open toss the pasta into the sauce. Turn off the heat and serve. Sometimes I add a little lemon juice to this dish and garnish it with a little flat leaf parsley. You can also add differnt types of seafood such as shrimp or baby octopus.

Labor-less Day Dessert

Alright, maybe this dessert isn't completely labor-less, but it's pretty easy to make, and would be great for your Labor Day BBQ. Sorry my posts have been a little less frequent lately, but I'm back working full time again, so my farmers market visits will mostly be on the weekends from now on.

I had a whole list of errands to attend to today, so I stayed close to home and went to the Grand Army Plaza market. Often I go to the market with an idea in mind, but today I wanted to see what was there, and make my mind up on the spot. I noticed right away that we're really starting to move into autumn produce. A variety of apples were all over the market. Unfortunately, I'm allergic to raw apples, so you won't see many apple recipes from me on here.

I thought about making a fish dish, but as you can see from the picture, the line at the fish vendor was longer than any line that I had ever seen at the farmers market before. Maybe the change in season was causing a mussel craving, (which were only $2.95/lb by the way if you want to wait on the line.)

In the end, I decided to go with a dessert. I spotted some mint that smelled wonderful for $1.50/bunch, and since I rarely mix mint into a savory dish (except with certain lamb dishes), I decided to pick up some fruit that would go well with the herb. I grabbed two packages of blackberries, which would have been about $8, but for some reason, the guy decided to take pity on my lack of cash, and charge me half price. I'll mention that you can get 5 containers of berries for just $10. It's a real deal, I just didn't have another $10 on me this morning. I thought blackberries weren't enough, so I decided to add some peaches. I was having a hard time deciding between the peaches and nectarines, but the peaches were a bit riper so I went with them.



At this point I decided to make a trifle. I could have made my own pound cake, but they had slices of buttered pound cake for just $1.50 which I thought would probably be better than anything I could make, so I bought two pieces.

On the way home I had a thought that I wanted to make whipped cream, so I picked up a pint of whipping cream at the supermarket, but often you can get that at the farmers market as well.

Today I purchased:

At the farmers market:
2 cups of blackberries
1 bunch of mint
2 peaches
2 slices of pound cake

At a supermarket:
1 pint of heavy whipping cream

Supplemental ingredients I had at home:
Superfine sugar
Confectioners sugar
Agave sweetener or honey (either will do)
Apricot brandy

Recipe: Grilled Peach and Blackberry Trifle

Ingredients (for 2 trifles)
2 peaches
1 piece of pound cake
2 cups of blackberries
1/4 cup of superfine sugar
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of mint, chopped
1 pint of whipping cream
4 tablespoons of confectioners sugar
Apricot brandy
Agave sweetener or honey

First, before you start anything, put a metal bowl and the blades from an electric mixer in the freezer. This will make it easier to whip the cream into soft peaks later.

Cut the peaches in half, then each half into quarters. If the peaches are really ripe, you can add them to the trifle raw. Mine were a little under-ripe, so I decided to grill them. First, after I sliced the peaches I drizzled agave sweetener on them. You could use honey instead, but I used the agave because it's a little neater and easier to use. Heat your grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the peaches for about 2 or 3 minutes on each side.




Add the blackberries, superfine sugar, water, and chopped mint into the blender. Mix until smooth.



Slice the pound cake into cubes.




Now, to make the whipped cream. It's actually much easier than one would think. Take the bowl and blades out of the freezer. Pour the pint of cream into the bowl. Mix on low speed until the cream begins to thicken a bit and no longer splatters. This should take a couple of minutes. You can move it up to medium speed at this point. Continue to mix the cream until soft peaks just begin to form. I found this took me about 3-5 minutes from the time I started. Once it's thick enough, add 4 tablespoons of confectioners sugar to the cream and mix on low for another 15 seconds. The cream should be slightly sweet, but not too sweet.




Assembly time! I decided to use wine glasses, but you can really use any type of liquor glass (Margarita, Brandy, etc.). First, start with a layer of the pound cake. I put 4 or 5 little cubes in the bottom, but this will depend on what kind of glass you're using. Next, take the apricot brandy and pour just a little over the pound cake. Cut the peach slices in half and add a layer. Next, pour some of the blackberry mint sauce on top until you have a thin layer. Add a scoop of the whipped cream.



Repeat all steps one more time, and top with a mint sprig and maybe a blackberry or two. I'd suggest refrigerating this for about a half hour so that all the flavors meld together, but I couldn't wait, so I ate mine right away. This is the perfect end of summer dessert. It was very delicious and only took me about 20 minutes to make.




Tomorrow I'm off to Jersey to go hiking with a friend and make a Jersey farmers market meal. Maybe I'll blog about it later in the week. Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Savory Muffins

After last week's cold weather, I was about to say that summer is winding down, but here it is, another 90 degree day. I'm sure in three months I'll be complaining that my toes are freezing off, but at this moment I'd like to be able to go outside without getting heat stroke.

Although I bought my ingredients yesterday at the Grand Army Plaza market, I made my dish today. I would have cooked yesterday afternoon, but I actually took the boat over to Governor's Island around noon yesterday. The island was hosting a 1920's Jazz-Age party where people dressed up, did the Charleston, and played croquet, as the sun set on another New York August. This doesn't have much to do with a farmers market food blog, but I thought I'd mention the cocktails that were being served. St.-Germain (the elderflower liquor) was one of the sponsors of the event, and the cocktails they were serving were so refreshing during the hot summer day, that I thought I should post the recipe in the blog.

St.-Germaine Signature Cocktail:
2 parts sparkling wine
1 1/2 parts St.-Germaine
2 parts sparkling water or club soda
Lemon twist garnish
Ice

They say to serve it in a tom collins glass. I had it in a plastic cup, and that was just fine by me.

Now, on to today's farmers market recipe. I stopped at the market on my way back from my morning run. All the money I had on me was the $12 I had in my little running pouch so I had to stick to a budget. I had decided when I first woke up that I wanted to make muffins, but I wanted savory muffins. I love sweet muffins, but I must admit that I don't have the sweet tooth that many others have. There's nothing better to me than taking fresh vegetables and baking them into a savory snack. Today, I looked through my trusty muffin and cupcake book (500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly), and picked out a zucchini muffin recipe with feta. I wanted to add a slight punch of color and taste so I decided to add a little bit of tomato to the recipe as well.


The market was thoroughly packed, and I almost got knocked down by a woman buying plants at the vendor on the corner, but I managed to get what I needed and get out in about 10 minutes. No dilly dallying this day. I grabbed 3 small zucchini and a plum tomato for about $4, then I headed to the egg stand and picked up a half dozen for $2. I perused my first cheese stand which only had harder cheeses, and was just about to give up on the feta, when I spied a goat cheese stand on the other side that had one container of crumbled goat feta for $6. I grabbed that, and headed home to get ready for the 1920's garden party.




Today I purchased:

At the farmers market:
3 small zucchini
1 plum tomato
1 package (about 1 cup) of crumbled goat feta
Half dozen farm fresh eggs

At the supermarket:
1 lemon

Supplementary ingredients I had at home:
Flour
Baking powder
Olive Oil
Salt

Recipe: Zucchini & Feta Muffins

Ingredients
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups of shredded zucchini
1 cup of crumbled feta
1 1/2 tbsp. of lemon zest
1 plum tomato, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a muffin tin. The recipe says it makes 6, but I got 10 out of the batter with a standard size muffin tin.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and the oil with an electric mixer until smooth.

Shred the zucchini with a box shredder. If you don't have one of these, you can pick one up in your local supermarket for about $2, which is what I did when I realized that I couldn't find mine. Dice the tomato into small pieces. Stir the zucchini, feta, tomato, and lemon zest into the egg and oil mixture.



Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined.



Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins and cool on a rack.





You can store these in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or freeze them for 3 months.

I think these are perfect for breakfast with eggs, or in a bread basket at dinner. They're a little on the salty side since feta tends to be a salty cheese, but I thought the salty flavor was a nice contrast to the blander zucchini. Next time I might try adding a little cayenne or chopped up jalapeno to add a little spice to them.

Asian Spiced Burgers with a Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce

Another rainy day at the Carroll Gardens farmers market yesterday. Somehow it always seems to rain when I'm heading to that side of the borough. Luckily, a little rain doesn't stop the vendors from coming out. I was coming off of another long day of shooting, and despite the plethora of meat I was surrounded by all week, I was craving a burger. But not just any ordinary burger. I have to admit up front that I stole the idea of this Asian influenced burger from one of the chefs on the show I'm producing. He used a pork sausage removed from the case, but I wanted something lighter and leaner, so I thought I'd go with ground poultry.

When I arrived at the farmers market, I spotted a large meat stand right away. The sight of this almost made me change my mind and get beef, but then I saw a small table giving samples of pan fried turkey burgers. I rarely order turkey burgers because often I find the meat is dried out, and over cooked, but this cooked up so lovely that I knew that is what I was going to go with. I bought a pound for about $7, which is a little pricey for ground meat, but not too bad when you realize you get 4 burgers out of it.

Now this recipe is more of a meat loaf style burger in the sense that I mix a few ingredients into the meat rather than putting lots of ingredients on top. The "marinade," and I use that word loosely since most of the ingredients in this are dry, consists of shiitake mushrooms, garlic, and shallots. When I got to the mushroom table the woman was almost completely out of shiitakes, but there were just enough there for the burgers. I bought the rest that she had, a little under a half pound, for a pricey $7, and continued on down to the fruits and veggies.

I bought an almost too ripe tomato for $4/lb, and a shallot for practically nothing. Then I picked up a couple of rolls and some mescalin greens to go with the burgers, and some scallions for the dipping sauce. On my way out of the market I spotted some blackberries sitting on the end of a table. I couldn't find a place for them in this dish, but they're one of my favorite fruits so I picked up a pint to snack on as I cooked. I'm so glad blackberry season is here!


Today I purchased:

At the farmers market:
1 lb of ground turkey meat
Just shy of a half pound of shiitake mushrooms
1 shallot
2 bulky rolls
small bag of mescalin greens
1 bunch of scallions
1 ripe tomato
1 pint of blackberries

Supplementary ingredients I had at home:
Soy Sauce
Garlic
Chinese 5 spice (can buy at most higher end markets or any Asian market)
Chinese rice wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Mirin (also can buy at most higher end markets or any Asian market)
Sriracha
1 Lime
Fresh Ginger
Agave sweetener
Sesame oil
Wok oil

Recipe: Chinese 5 Spice Burgers with a Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients
(for the burger)
1 lb of ground turkey
3 oz of shiitake mushrooms, finely minced
2 large cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 large shallot, finely minced
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
1 Tablespoon of mirin
1 teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon of Wok oil

(for the sauce)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
A little less than a 1/4 cup of Chinese rice wine vinegar
1 squeeze of lime juice
1 tablespoon of minced fresh ginger
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of Agave nectar
1 scallion, green part
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 squirts of sriracha

(accompaniments)
mescalin greens
tomato
buns

Finely mince the mushrooms (about 8-10 small to medium shiitakes), shallots and garlic. Put the tablespoon of wok oil (or vegetable oil if you don't have wok oil) in a medium saute pan and heat to medium heat. When warm, throw in the mushrooms, shallots, and garlic. Saute a couple of minutes until they begin to soften. Add a little salt and pepper to taste, the 1 tablespoon of soy and mirin, and 1/2 teaspoon of the Chinese 5 spice. Cook until the liquid has burned off. Turn off the heat and cool the mixture before mixing it with the burgers.



Put the ground turkey meat in a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, and the other 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice. Mix together. Next, add the cooled mushroom mixture to the meat and blend in. I do this with my hands. It's a little messy, but it's the best way to integrate the mixture throughout all of the meat. Lastly, I add the other tablespoon of soy sauce to the turkey and mix it in until it's well incorporated. Put the turkey in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Now that the turkey is marinating, it the perfect time to prepare the dipping sauce. Finely chop the garlic and ginger and slice 1 scallion into little pieces. In a small metal bowl, mix all of the ingredients (the soy sauce, Chinese rice wine vinegar, a squeeze of lime, 1 tablespoon of agave nectar (you can use honey if you want here too, but I find the agave easier to work with), the garlic, ginger, and scallion, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, and 2 squirts of the sriracha depending on how spicy you want the sauce.) Mix with a small whisk or fork, then refrigerate while you're waiting to cook the burgers.





Once the meat has marinated for about an hour, heat your grill pan to high, or an outdoor grill to high direct heat. Remember to oil your grill so the burgers don't stick. I separated the meat into 4 patties, about 1/4 lb. each. I cooked the turkey burgers a little longer than I would regular burgers, which amounted to about 6 minutes on each side. This produced a perfectly juicy, but cooked through burger.



My buns were a bit too big for the burger size, so consider how big you want to make your burgers when you buy your buns. I placed each burger on a bun then drizzled the dipping sauce on top. I sliced the tomato and put a piece on top of the burger, then some of the mescalin greens on top of that.



This recipe came out very well. The turkey had just the right mix of sweet, salty, and spice, and the dipping sauce was tangy without being too strong. You could also put some Chinese spicy mustard on these to give them a slightly different flavor. Enjoy the rainy week!