August 18, 2013 - Tomatoes Everywhere!

The tomato season is starting to wind down. But since I was not good at updating this blog in the end of the summer I thought I'd post some of the harvest pictures for posterity.

July 25, 2013 - Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Tonight's Farmers Market Dinner:

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Nothing beats a roasted fresh chicken - it made the whole house smell like Thanksgiving!

 I really wish Blogger would give me rotation control over my photos.  They appear fine everywhere until I upload them.  Anyway...  Here's my haul from the market.

 1. Prepared the chicken but quartering an onion and plucking some herbs from the garden.  I used sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Placed some of the herbs, garlic, and onions in the cavity. I then stuffed a little butter and herbs under the breast skin.  I finished by lightly drizzle of olive oil and salt/pepper over the bird.

2. I quartered a small yellow squash. I added them along with the whole carrots, and carrot greens to the base of the roasting pan.

3. Roasted the chicken at 400 degrees.


4. While the bird was cooking I boiled the potatoes and made  rosemary smashed potatoes.  Simply boil them and mash them (with the skins on) with a little butter, chicken stock, and rosemary.

5. While the chicken rested, I made a quick gravy with the drippings. It was a little rioux, some more herbs (minus the sage) and the drippings from the roasting pan.

6. A simple platting with the carrots acting as a wall between the veg and chicken/smashed potatoes.

August 8, 2013 - Eggplant Parmesan

Tonight's Farmers Market Dinner:

Eggplant Parmesan

Making a tomato sauce:

I had a ton of tomatoes at this point, and the intent was to cook a large vat of sauce and use a small amount for the eggplant.  I did not start it early enough and by the time I had peeled and mashed a small fraction of the paste tomatoes it was getting late - and I still hadn't started the eggplant.  So I cut my losses and made just enough for the eggplant parm.  

1. Get a big pot of water to a rolling boil, this will take a while so start it first and early.
2. Cut an X at the bottom of each tomato.
3. Boil the tomatoes for just a few seconds, 10-30 at most.  And then immediately transfer them into a bowl of ice water.  This should make peeling the tomatoes much easier.


4. Add the peeled tomatoes to a saucepan and cook them down.  They should start to fall apart and lose their moisture.  I used a wooden spoon and a potato masher to break the up once cooked a little. I was going for simple chunky sauce, but if I was going for something thinner with a more consistent texture I'd throw the whole lot into a food processer at this point.

5. The sauce was real simple: dried oregano, salt and pepper. A little bit of chopped basil at the end.

Preparing the eggplant:

1. Take off the skin with a vegetable peeler, and slice into 1/2 inch thick rounds.

2. Lay the slices on a layer or two of paper towels and sprinkle salt over the top and bottom.

3. Let the slices sit for 15-20 minute to allow the bitter moisture to ooze out.

Salted

You can clearly see the moisture oozing out.  Wipe both sides down with another set of paper towels to remove both the moisture and remaining salt.

4. Prepare a dredging station with three bowls:

•  The first with just flour
• The second with a couple of eggs beaten, with a few tablespoons of water to stretch the egg if need.
• The third with seasoned breading.  I used panko, seasoned salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, and a little parmesan.

5. Coat each slice with flour, egg, and breading and set aside on a sheet of parchment.

6. Fry in hot vegetable oil until browned on both sides. This is best done in batches and

7. Set aside cooked eggplant slices on a cooling rack. This should stop them from getting soggy while the rest cook.

8. Top them off with some of the sauce and mozzarella cheese and bake until it's hot and cheese is melted.

9. I plated the eggplant parm with sliced cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions, parmesan cheese, and fresh oregano.

June 27, 2013 - Boerewors Sausage and Cold Couscous Salad

Several weeks delayed, but here is (was) Tonights Farmers Market Dinner:

Boerewors Sausage and Cold Couscous Salad

Boereswors sausage is a traditional South African sausage made from beef, pork, bacon, red vinegar, nutmeg, allspice and, cloves. I've never hear of it let alone cooked it before finding it at the Canter Hill Farm's booth at the market.  It was different from many other sausages I've had in not only flavor but texture.  It seems to be light in fat and therefore felt drier - although not in a bad way. Great flavor that was not overwhelming, I would highly recommend trying it.

The final product.

The honey was not used, but here are the sausage, parsley and cookies from the market.

1. Added the uncooked couscous to some heated olive oil, and stirred to give it a light toasting.
2. Added the chicken stock and cooked the couscous according to the directions.

3. After it was cooked I set the couscous aside and let it cool to room temperature.
4. Once cooled, I added some chopped tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden along with the parsley from the market.

5. Meanwhile, outside I grilled the sausages.
6. Sliced the sausages and plated them around the couscous salad with two kinds of mustard.