Sunday, July 20, 2008

Fun Playing with Farmers' Market Goodies

I wrote yesterday about the fun I had playing with local and sustainable food at the Geauga Fresh Farmers Market. I returned home, hungry for breakfast. I enjoyed a variation on a treat I loved as a child - bananas and sour cream. The first time I brought bananas and sour cream to a Cleveland food event (a Break-the-Yom-Kippur-Fast meal, which is traditionally dairy) - no one knew what to make of it.

This dish is simple: cut up banana (or your fruit of choice), top with dollop of sour cream, and enjoy with fresh bread and butter.


Organic Banana, Blue Jay's Blueberries, Ridgeview Farms Raspberries, Organic Valley Reduced Fat Organic Sour Cream


Challah with Hartlzer Farms Butter

We got the challah at D&R Bagels in Solon, but Bob forgot to ask where they get it from. It is soft and sweet - a perfect foil for natural roll butter.

As dinner time beckoned, I defrosted the ground lamb I had purchased from Great American Lamb, and made Kofta. I made a paste of onion, garlic, ginger, garden New Mexican Hot Pepper from the freezer, Cilantro, and mixed it into the meat, together with Indian spices. I then formed it into small meatballs, and fried them.







This operation yielded a nice quantity of lamb fat and fond in the pan. I poured off most of the fat, but kept enough to sautee the beans, together with a healthy dose of Herbthyme's fresh garlic, and a bit of salt and pepper - it didn't need another thing!



I'd never had "black" or "burgundy" or "purple" green beans before. As you can see, they are actually green inside. Moreover, when you cook them, the coolest bit of alchemy happens:



Yes indeedy - they turn green!



Yum!

The final dinner component would be Saffron Style Basmati Rice (I call it that because even though the spice packet I bought at the Asian market says "Saffron" - I don't think it is). I sauteed onion, then spices in Ghee, then added the raw rice and continued to saute until the rice became opaque. I then added the requisite amount of boiling water, covered, and cooked gently to doneness.







Dinner from the Farmers' Market was served!



Is there any food more fun in this world than the Earth's fresh and local bounty!

2 comments:

  1. I'm going to be back in Cleveland for two weeks in August--I'm definitely going to check this out. Might just have to buy a hot plate and a skillet for my hotel room!

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  2. Oooh, everything looks absolutely lovely :) We have definitely been on a green bean kick, which we found surprising initially -- but what a wonderful surprise how versatile this healthy vegetable is*

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