Thursday's Bounty

I simply love the idea of the farmer's market. Today I stopped by my near-work FarM to get a bounty before I move on Saturday. And what a bounty it is!!


Included are 3 quarts of gorgeous gorgeous tomatoes .... a mixed quart of these (see above) purple, gold, orange and red multi-shaped minis, a quart of tiny romas, and a quart of these glowing deep-gold paste tomatoes. They asked what I planned to do with all of my tomatoes ... I said eat them! (Lame, yes. But true!) I picked up another dozen of the best eggs I've ever had in my entire life. They have an extraordinarily smooth, creamy yolk and a flavorful white that gently puffs up. I cooked them 5 different ways last week and every time I swooned! I asked the late-20's girl about her hens and she told me about their diet and their acreage and their temperament. They were called "Sweet Georgia Browns" or something, heh, I love heirloom breed names! I also picked up some beautiful white and yellow onions.

The baker gave me another loaf for free (you can see one of the dense, chewy multi-grain loaves in the picture). Because I made a log of homemade mozzarella and prosciutto last night, I had to pick up some basil. Now my parents will be set for lunch tomorrow ... homemade mozzarella, basil, fresh bread and a variety of tomatoes (and wine, of course)! It's the least I can do for their help moving!

For my pleasure? Below you can see a FarM fresh dinner a la Kabri ...

Dessert was a thin slice of the cake-y bread with a smear of creamed raw honey and fresh marscapone :) ... life is good.

Feeling More Italian Today ...

Today I hit the RFK FarM, which will be the FarM closest to home when I move next week. Looks like I'm going to have to be a bit more careful shopping there as it seems they stock some non-local produce. It was great that the people working the stands were willing to point out what they had grown locally. I picked up some garlic grown in PA and some local orchard apples.

For lunch I took some of my mini-plums and Sunsweets and made a quick tomato salad with some sliced green onion, quickly sautéed garlic and a drizzle of aged balsamic. I ate that incredibly delicious bowl of red, yellow and green with a thick slice of Kalamata bread topped with a smear of marscapone and some of the sautéed garlic. The lunch was really really heaven and representative of how I always want to eat (especially accompanied with the glass of wine!)

After packing up more of and cleaning my kitchen a bit, I decided that I couldn't wait a week to make my first batch of mozzarella (darn. guess I'll have to make another batch with my dad - I was planning on surprising him with a cheese-making, father-daughter bonding event) Following Ricki's directions, I made my first "30 min mozzarella" in about an hour. I used a gallon of 2% cow's milk and produced two baseball-sized balls (I didn't have an ice bath to help them keep their shape, so they're more like shiny, off-white blobs) and I plopped about 12-15 1-ounce-sized twists in a Tupperware of olive oil, crushed garlic and red pepper flakes. Mmm, the process really was easy, and the product tastes like perfectly delicious mozzarella! The texture is great (I made sure not to over-handle the curd) and next time I know to add a bit more salt. I'd love to experiment with different types of milk and maybe I'll even throw in some fresh herbs! I guess I know what I'll be contributing to this year's Christmas Eve dinner. :)

I anticipate that tonight's dinner will consist of another glass of wine (hey! when you live alone, you have a limited amount of time to consume a bottle) and a saute of potatoes, sweet red and banana peppers, onions, garlic, green onions and ground turkey. MMM, this is so fun!

Food Gets EVER More Exciting!

I am reading a book that is becoming a life-altering event: 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' by Barbara Kingsolver. For serious. Requirements for my life now include the grand plan of someday having a vegetable garden like my grandfather's and I'm geared up for reaching my more immediate goals of making homemade cheeses, canning summer vegetables for the winter and shopping weekly farmers' markets (FarMs) near home. I want local foods in my life. I want to understand and appreciate seasons and the families that spend their time nurturing the food I'm buying - beautiful heirloom varieties that are being lost in our supermarket culture. I want to slow down, take a breath, and eat naturally without worrying about anything more than listening to my body (such high hopes!)

Today I hit up the FarM by work (Thursdays, North of the Penn Quarter Metro stop). It frightens me that I seriously forgot what a garden-fresh string bean tasted like - they were picked this morning and had a cool, satisfying crunch! I used to eat them by the handful straight off the vine in my grandparents' back yard. I may have gone overboard in my excitement today ... asian cucumbers, not-perfectly-shaped carrots and potatoes (not unnaturally HUGE and both still dark and earthy), the most beautiful plum and Sunsweet tomatoes (as sweet as candy). The dairy vendors didn't have fresh milk (it's ok, my cheese-making book hasn't arrived yet), but I did get some AMAZING marscapone cheese. The local baker gave me a free second loaf of his Kalamata bread for my excitement and I'm psyched for my free-range eggs!

Since I'm moving into DC proper next week, I'm quite excited to start journaling the produce available year-round at the RFK FarM. I'll have to work on my "everything in proportion" focus ... balancing the beautiful natural produce and meats around me with cost and quantity. Like my little-over-one-year-out-of-college life, I'm looking for proportion and balance in the things that I'm discovering mean the most to me. Get ready ... I'm already concocting recipes like savory Kalamata French Toast with mixed tomato and aged balsamic salad....

Speaking of mind-boggling food: I was visiting my love in Cali last weekend. While wine-tasting with friends the weekend before, she picked us up two bottles of wine to share. One is a favorite of ours - Harvest Moon's Late Harvest Zin. We knew the dessert-course was set, but there was a new Zin to try for dinner! Hanna Winery's 2004 Bismark Mountain Zinfandel is AMAZING. It was juicy, layered, extremely smooth and heavy on the tannins but surprisingly didn't leave your mouth puckered. (While I very rarely support the idea that a good wine needs to cost more than $25, at $51 we knew this wine could sell for $150+ at a good restaurant and was worth the price.)

We hit the grocery store and I hit up my dad in NY for ideas. J's recommendation of fresh rosemary and garlic marinated lamb shoulder cuts held their flavor beautifully next to the Zin. Rosemary, roasted, small white potatoes and garlicky green beans supported well. Even though I cleaned the lamb bones clean, the wine was really the star. Love + 2 bottles of wine + good food = more love. (I'll make a Hallmark card sometime.)

More to come...