Every Saturday morning through summer and fall, Mr. Sweet Potato is at the farmer's market. It signals the start of his weekend and the end of his week. He is here whether I am asleep after a sleepless night or or I am out of town or I am with him. He strides down to the berries first and buys whatever berries are in season – strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. My favorite is the blueberries and he likes Obsidian blackberries. He says he likes the surprise of the blackberries; you never know if they are tart or sweet or seedy. It keeps him excited and guessing. If they are plump and feel like caviar, he knows that they are sweet and he offers me some. I buy the plums and the nectarines.
I buy clams as he leaves a pint of blackberries with the couple selling shellfish. The lady tastes some berries and adds a half dozen oysters along with the clams. I can hear the garrulous, friendly, wiry woman from whom we buy spinach and radicchio leaves. The rich odor of barbecue and roasted spices leads us to the Indian stand. He orders golden roasted chicken kebabs with cilantro chutney and steaming hot sweet chai. I request some habanero sauce.
By now, the grocery bags are full. We set them down on patch of grass by the musician of the day strumming his guitar and singing plaintive notes of love and loss. I attack the kebabs like a hungry African driver ant and he sips his tea. I draw his attention to the miniature Botticelli blond; a sweet girl of three with golden kiss curls running pointless energetic circles and then to the tall, Gothic, alabaster skinned woman in all black. All black in the middle of summer is a uniquely Pacific North Western as is the incessant rain in winter with hoodies and North face jackets.
Then we walk to the flower shop and I wait for him to select the perfect bouquet of lilies. As he walks with this intensely fragrant bundle, I see the yoga bodied, black clad, coffee cup holding women look at him.
And I think "I got him."
The food that came from the farmers market barter;
1) Clam Linguine
This is a very easy and very elegant recipe. Sauté onion, garlic and tomatoes. Add 1 cup of clam broth and 1 cup of white wine. Add clams to this bubbling concoction until their shells snap open. Cook linguine in extra salty water and layer on a plate. Add the reduced clam mix on top. Chop parsley and decorate. Remember to drink the rest of the dry crisp white wine (Pinot Grigio) as you cook the evening away.
2) Spinach and Radicchio salad with ranch dressing
Radicchio leaves are a lovely deep dark purple but also bitter. I like to wilt them gently in the oven for 5-10 min with olive oil. Since we are operating the oven I baked potatoes and red onion until the former was golden brown and the latter pink and soft. Cool them and add to fresh spinach leaves. The ranch dressing is a tangy, spicy and smooth, earthy mix of sour buttermilk, mayo, garlic, anchovies, black pepper, and lemon juice. Perfect with spinach and roasted vegetables.
3) Plum pie with thyme
This is a variation of Melissa Clark's recipe in the New York Times. Besides eating the fruit what better way to enjoy them than whole and baked in a pie? So, there was the plum pie with thyme and the blackberry pie.
And the berries in the pie were all sweet, Mr Sweet Potato. I made sure by adding extra brown sugar.
Bon Appétit! And to more farmers market barters and adventures.
Clam Linguine
I buy clams as he leaves a pint of blackberries with the couple selling shellfish. The lady tastes some berries and adds a half dozen oysters along with the clams. I can hear the garrulous, friendly, wiry woman from whom we buy spinach and radicchio leaves. The rich odor of barbecue and roasted spices leads us to the Indian stand. He orders golden roasted chicken kebabs with cilantro chutney and steaming hot sweet chai. I request some habanero sauce.
By now, the grocery bags are full. We set them down on patch of grass by the musician of the day strumming his guitar and singing plaintive notes of love and loss. I attack the kebabs like a hungry African driver ant and he sips his tea. I draw his attention to the miniature Botticelli blond; a sweet girl of three with golden kiss curls running pointless energetic circles and then to the tall, Gothic, alabaster skinned woman in all black. All black in the middle of summer is a uniquely Pacific North Western as is the incessant rain in winter with hoodies and North face jackets.
Then we walk to the flower shop and I wait for him to select the perfect bouquet of lilies. As he walks with this intensely fragrant bundle, I see the yoga bodied, black clad, coffee cup holding women look at him.
And I think "I got him."
The food that came from the farmers market barter;
1) Clam Linguine
This is a very easy and very elegant recipe. Sauté onion, garlic and tomatoes. Add 1 cup of clam broth and 1 cup of white wine. Add clams to this bubbling concoction until their shells snap open. Cook linguine in extra salty water and layer on a plate. Add the reduced clam mix on top. Chop parsley and decorate. Remember to drink the rest of the dry crisp white wine (Pinot Grigio) as you cook the evening away.
2) Spinach and Radicchio salad with ranch dressing
Radicchio leaves are a lovely deep dark purple but also bitter. I like to wilt them gently in the oven for 5-10 min with olive oil. Since we are operating the oven I baked potatoes and red onion until the former was golden brown and the latter pink and soft. Cool them and add to fresh spinach leaves. The ranch dressing is a tangy, spicy and smooth, earthy mix of sour buttermilk, mayo, garlic, anchovies, black pepper, and lemon juice. Perfect with spinach and roasted vegetables.
3) Plum pie with thyme
This is a variation of Melissa Clark's recipe in the New York Times. Besides eating the fruit what better way to enjoy them than whole and baked in a pie? So, there was the plum pie with thyme and the blackberry pie.
And the berries in the pie were all sweet, Mr Sweet Potato. I made sure by adding extra brown sugar.
Bon Appétit! And to more farmers market barters and adventures.
Clam Linguine
 |
| Clams |
 |
| Clam juice and white wine |
 |
| Saute onions and garlic |
 |
| Add tomatoes |
 |
| Add 1 cup of white wine |
 |
| Add 1 cup of calm juice |
 |
| Submerge the clams |
 |
| Cook until the clams are pried open my the heat |
 |
| Cook the pasta in extra salty water |
 |
| Cool under water |
 |
| Layer on large pan |
 |
| Add the clam mix and decorate with parsley |
 |
| Ready to twist around your fork Spinach and Radicchio salad with Ranch dressing |
 |
| Baby Spinach |
 |
| Radicchio leaves with olive oil |
 |
| Wilt radicchio in oven gently. |
 |
| Bake potatoes and red onion |
 |
| I cup mayo, 1/2 cup yogurt, 4 cloves garlic, juice from 1 lemon, 3-4 anchovies and 3 tbsp black peppercorn |
 |
| Grind to make dressing |
 |
| Add Radicchio and baked and cooled potatoes and red onion to spinach leaves |
 |
| Next the dressing |
 |
| Toss and serve Plum Pie |
The filling
 |
| Plums |
 |
| Add 1 cup of brown sugar |
 |
| Add 1/4 cup corn starch Pie Crust |
 |
| 2 cup all purpose flour, 2 cup pastry flour, 3 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and mix |
 |
| Add 1 and 1/2 stick of butter |
 |
| Make crumbly mix |
 |
| Add 1 cup of cream and 3 eggs |
 |
| Knead into dough |
 |
| Layer on pie plate and then add filling and thyme sprigs |
 |
| Roll over the edges |
 |
| Bake at 400 F for 35 to 40 min |
 |
| Succulent pie |
 |
| Blueberry pie |
No comments:
Post a Comment