Fun Playing with Kurobuta Sausage

When I decided to pick up some Kurobuta sausage from Mister Brisket last Friday, I never expected it to be so amazing. Maybe because the Thai Veal Sausage is so good - I don't know why this variety wasn't on my radar. Well, it is now!

We grilled some of it up tonight, with potatoes that had a 15 minute dunk in simmering water and then some seasoning. Oh my goodness - just delicious!


Raw


Cooked

This sausage has a pleasantly spicy bite, and big, big pork flavor.

Another Angle

We started dinner with salad (and the last Howards Farm tomato) and enjoyed Howards Farm asparagus with dinner - it was every bit as tender and delicious as it had looked. We steamed it lightly and added a pinch of salt.

This was the essence of having fun playing with our food!

Fun Playing With Howards Apples (and other good stuff from their market)

Saturday marked my first 2009 venture to the Geauga Farmers' Market. I had heard talk of fabulous asparagus, and hoped to procure some. However, it was not to be. Spring produce is still fleeting, and I was too late to score what I was looking for. One very positive development I noted at the market on Saturday, however, was that there were no fewer than 3 or 4 vendors offering farm eggs. That was a huge void in last year's market that seems to now be filled.

As I trundled back towards home on Route 306, it suddenly occurred to me to take a left at Bainbridge Road and see if Howards Apples Farm Market [sic] had yet opened for 2009. I was greeted with a delightful affirmative. The farm doesn't list a street address or website in their brochure, but the phone # is 440-543-7587. This is a small, family owned farm, located 2.5 miles east of State Route 306 on Bainbridge Road or .5 miles west of East Washington Street on Bainbridge Road.

I made a beeline for the asparagus! Young, tender and grown on the premises. We'll be eating it tomorrow! The market had other goodies, too- Matsu apples (from the 2008 harvest, cold-stored) and first-of-the-season tomatoes, sourced from a southern Ohio farm. Heaven!











(This is a Matsu apple - they also have Fuji, but this is what I bought.)



Simply fabulous (well, I don't know about the asparagus yet, but every sense except taste is telling me fabulous!).

In addition to enjoying the tomatoes on salad, the tomatoes added a fabulous punctuation to my breakfast today. The primary ingredients were a simple Salmon Salad (leftover Alaskan salmon , including some caramelized red onions and parsley, mashed with mayo), Bob's Whole Wheat Bread, and sliced tomato:










And we had one more meal of salmon for dinner tonight - and I couldn't quite finish mine, so I guess I get to keep playing with salmon for breakfast again tomorrow!