Two things come to mind when I hear the word succotash : my mother’s unorthodox addition of tomato to the mixture of fresh corn and lima beans (now my preferred preparation), and, naturally, Sylvester the cat.
When summer’s end robs us of vegetables that peaked earlier in the season, we can always count on eggplant as a farmer’s market lure with its high gloss and firm form. Its meatiness holds up well to grilling and it marries well with tart or sweet condiments, marinades and sauces.
Sometimes it’s too darn hot to cook. You’re famished but a hot meal doesn’t appeal. A visit to the Saturday farmer’s market fills you with resolve to turn your purchases into something besides the obvious chopped salad of colorful, crunchy bits. There’s your pile – now what? Continue reading
The sweet scents of summer : freshly cut watermelon, peppery blossoms of abelia draping over my back yard fence, just-made pesto redolent of basil and garlic and the smoky aroma of steak on the grill. Continue reading
Nobody does heirloom tomatoes like Amy Hicks and George Ferguson of Amy’s Garden in Charles City County, Virginia. Amy introduced me to heirloom tomatoes years ago when we were both vendors at the Williamsburg Farmer’s Market. Produce sold by Amy and other farmers made its way into baked goods I sold at the market, some of which remain on The Good Eats Company menus seasonally : tomato walnut spice bread, provencal tartlets with goat cheese and roasted vegetables and strawberry honey pecan muffins.
How fortuitous that the seasons for sweet corn and sugar snap peas overlap. Sweet beginning for fresh corn, and melancholy ending for the short-lived fresh sugar snap pea, which is worlds apart from the sorry, limp frozen variety available year round at your grocery store.
Blueberry rhubarb crisp – enemy of all white clothing and tablecloths, but oh-so-very-worth it when you take one taste of the ultimate early summer dessert.
Ever had a baby carrot? Not the baby cut carrots wrapped in cellophane at your grocery store, but a real baby carrot, just pulled from the earth. Last weekend at the Lakeside Farmer’s Market, I noticed that Walnut Hill Farm had a feathery pile of brilliant orange baby carrots arranged on a wooden table, and the dreary, drizzly morning brightened considerably.
In the clear light of an early summer morning, just-picked local produce is pristine in appearance and calls forth the cook’s desire to improvise. What can be created from the bounty of tables and baskets overflowing with homegrown goodness?
The fresh local strawberries from Agriberry at the South of the James Farmer’s Market presented me with a problem : eat them all up until they are gone, really gone, or make a tasty cocktail mix with cilantro and fresh lime juice? I simply had to taste one, just one, and then another, and then…there were none left to make my spring beverage. So it’s a good thing Little House Green Grocery carries Agriberry’s strawberries, because my plan would have been foiled, as the market only comes around once a week and I had to strike while the berries are at their seasonal peak.