Tomatillos

Something I like to do, and encourage others to do, is try a new foods as much as possible.  Nothing worse than hearing someone say "I don't like that" about a food when they have never even tasted.  Try something new and you may be surprised at how much you like it!


When I hit the market on Saturdays, I try to come home with one new item.  It is especially fun to try new food from the market because the farmers  are there to talk to you about the food and give you ideas on how to prepare them.


My new food this week was the tomatillo.  I chose the tomatillo because it is as fun to look at as it is to say...toh-MAH-tee-YO.  Tell me you don't want to just say that over and over again?  

The tomatillo is the cousin of the tomato.  It is a small green fruit that is covered in a wrapper called a 'husk' and has a tart taste.  Most commonly used to make salsa verde which is great with tortillas or over a meat dish.


After googling a few recipes, I took what I liked from each and made my own thing.  I roasted the tomatillos under the broiler for about 5-6 minutes..just until they were browned on top.  I took all the other ingredients: tomatillo, cilantro, shallot, ancho, lemon, and garlic (all but the garlic and lemon from the farmers market).

Put everything in a food processor and hit chop until it looks like this..

It was very tasty..tart and a bit spicy.   I mixed mine with brown rice and black beans.  It is just way too hot to stand over a stove so adding this quick salsa verde gave an old favorite some much needed excitement.  
The tomatillo is new food that will make its way back into my shopping bag.  What new food will you try this week? 

Three great components do not always create one great meal

I had an idea tonight to make a simple meal.  Savory Tofu with a touch of sweet brussels sprouts and beet mix.  Then I thought, I need to eat some lentils because I have not had them in awhile and my low iron fears deemed it necessary.   Still simple..but my normally spot-on editing eye took a holiday and I started to add more and more to this dinner.

What I ended up with was tofu tossed in a homemade peanut sauce (peanuts from Superior Nuts, Cambridge!), sweet brussels and beets (with bit of maple syrup), lentils with caramelized onions and beet greens.  It looked very appetizing and, separately, each of these were well flavored and great tasting.    Together it was flavor overload.  

Thinking about it, it was the peanut sauce.  It was a bit to peanut-ty and really overtook the plate.  Over some plain brown rice, it would have worked but not with all the other flavors.  Also, brussels sprouts and beets are soo flavorful and yummy as is, adding anything to them seems insane in hindsight!  Luckily I did not have a heavy hand with the syrup so it cooked down well..

To top it off, my eyes were way bigger than my stomach so I could not finish it.   I ate all the lentils (my favorite part of the meal!) and put everything else, including the beet greens that did not make it to the dish, into a bowl for lunch tomorrow.  Without the lentils and the addition of unseasoned greens, this may work as a random lunch..we will see.  

These components will surely show up again in separate meals...and note that with the exception of the lentils all the ingredients were local!  That is the theme of this blog, so seemed fitting to mention!

Grateful for thinking ahead and Dave's Fresh Pasta

It has been a busy weekend and this girl is wiped.  Tonight I was really too tired to prepare anything but boiled water.  Luckily, I bought roasted artichoke and fontina cheese ravioli from Dave's Fresh Pasta yesterday afternoon.

Dave's is located on Holland St, just outside Davis Sq (proper).  More than a pasta shop, Dave's is also known for selling scrumptious sandwiches, fresh local vegetables, cheeses, eggs, dairy and yummy desserts (some made in house, some from local bakeries).    Walk past the pasta, sandwiches, cold cuts and find the wonderful alcohol section.  The wine guys are super helpful and won't make fun when you give them quizzical look when asking if you like dry or sweet or whatever wine.  Just give me something that taste good..and they will!

While I was waiting in line for the ravs, I thought the perfect topping would be a nice fresh pesto.  Got home and whipped it up quick, even though I knew I would not need it until tonight.   Here we are..too tired to prepare much, all I had to to was boil water and cut up a few cherry tomatoes...dinner is served.

I adapted a recipe for Almond-Basil Pesto.  I omitted the parm cheese and used 1 tablespoon of olive oil instead of two.  Good fat is good for you, but too much can ruin its positive effects.  I got the pesto to a nice paste using about 4 tablespoons of water..worked just fine.  One garlic clove and some salt and pepper.  I roasted the almonds for a few minutes.  You could microwave them, but I don't have one so stove top is how it got done.

Before

After

and here is dinner

Cook the ravs until tender, top with pesto and fresh cherry tomatoes (uncooked).  Quick, easy and very tasty.

Tomato Jarring 101

Growing up, the end of Summer meant two things: my birthday was upon us and my parents would surely begin jarring what seemed to be a never ending supply of tomatoes.  That is right, while most children have memories of apple or berry picking, we were off  to the farm to pick those very tomatoes that would end up over our Sunday pasta in the coming months.
See local is now the "in" term, but it was always just what was done in our household.  My father has had his own garden for almost as long as I can remember and my mom would make her own pasta from scratch.  During the Winter months or to supplement what he was growing, my father would patronize the local fruit and vegetable store.   Both being originally from Italy, this was not local living, it was just living.  To this day (soon hitting my 33rd year), I have never bought a jar of tomato sauce off a store shelve.  Even looking at the rows of jarred sauce while shopping I could hear my dad's voice, accent and all, saying "that is no good and I do much better" and he was right.
So after many, many years of watching the process and then stealing jars for my own use, I have finally decided to get my hands dirty and jar tomatoes myself.   Today, down in the basement of my parent's house, local Lisa jarred her first tomatoes..

Since I have to work and my dad is retired, he went to pick the tomatoes on a Friday morning when the crowds are less. I would have love to have gone, but the bills must be paid.  With that done already, we were ready to go.


First, hit above mentioned garden for fresh basil.







Rinse and dry both basil and all the tomatoes.  I believe we were working with a 1/2 bushel here.









Next you best to line of the jars.  Add in a teaspoon of salt and basil.














Dicing the tomatoes takes most the time.  I did a good bunch and then my mom took over so I could start to stuff the jars.   Those are mom's hands..she does not like to be photographed, but is a great hand model!

Stuffing the jars, use your hands and pack the tomatoes in there.  Try to remove as many air bubbles as possible.  My hands were too goopy to take a picture, but you will get the idea.  At this point the large pot of water is on the burner warming up.  The jars have to go into the hot water and spend 45 minutes in there after the water starts to boil (so it may really be close to an hour when all is said and done.)

After the boiling time, take out the jars.  They have had an explosion in the past, so you have to be careful!  This is why we send dad in for the heavy lifting!

Then they cool and viola..Tomatoes for the whole year!  In keeping with my grandmother's tradition, these will not be used until Christmas time-ish.  I will at least try to wait that long, but I love a hot bowl of tomato soup on a cold New England day so I may open the stash on the first brisk Fall day!

What a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  

Local Saturday

Great day and night supporting local businesses!  

With all my local farmers market shopping lately, it was clear today that I needed to head to Greenward to grab more reusable veggie bags.  Much like the "other sock" my bags seem to disappear with every use or wash!  For those who do not know, Greenward is a little store in Cambridge that provides great items for the environmentally conscious.  They have tons of shopping bags, food containers, baby clothing, jewelry..etc.  My favorite purchase has to be my reusable sandwich sack decorated with cartoon frogs..my almond butter sandwich lives snuggled and happy until noon time when I dig in for lunch!

They also have an amazing selection of items online, for those not located in the area: http://www.greenwardshop.com/shop/new/ 

I had time to kill between dinner and finishing errands, so headed down to True Grounds for some great iced coffee and book reading.  The service there is fast and efficient and the atmosphere welcomes you to sit and read for hours..the people that spend time there are pretty nice too!  Had a lovely conversation with a guy who caught eye of the book I was reading and wanted my opinion..

Next went to pick up my favorite geneticist for some much needed catching up time and Indian food.  The Kebab Factory on Washington St, Somerville has been on the "to eat at" list for a while.  One bite in and I declared this place my new favorite restaurant!  The service was impeccable, the food looked and smelled appealing and the taste completely blew us away!  

I am not one to photograph food that I did not cook, but look at this dish!  It is called the  Hyderabadi Mirch Aur Baingan Ka Salan..or eggplant and chilies with sesame peanut and tamarind sauce.   I will admit I ate the whole thing and it was worth every calorie (nothing a 12 mile run tomorrow won't fix!).  It actually was not as heavy as it looks.   The nan was not weighed down with butter or oil, as I have seen it in other places, instead it was light and somewhat airy. 

We usually share, but my bud was feeling carnivorous tonight and I think we were both glad to have our meals all to ourselves!  (Note: Kebab Factory participate on restaurant.com..get a $25 coupon for $2-3 and eat cheap!)

Sadly, the meal came to end but why not hit one more great local spot before calling it a night?  Enter Christina's Ice Cream, Cambridge St, Cambridge (Inman Sq).  The long line tells the story..give people good ice cream and they will keep coming back.  There was a good rhythm by the staff so even though the line was out the door, we only waited about 5 minutes to have our order served up.   I thought I would need a lot of time to choose from the dozens of options..but of course there was only one option in my book...Taza Chocolate.   The Taza ice cream taste exactly like the candy bar only in a smooth creamy form.  I usually go for the kiddie size since most places hit you with mounds of  ice cream even in a small.    At Christina's, a small is only 1 scoop, which is exactly right and as was the price!

Over all a great local day!  

Holy Bounty

Goodness...my legs got a work out because my eyes are bigger than my bags!  Check out this bounty of yummy fresh items just purchased at the Union Sqaure Market and pedaled back home on my fine little bike..if I had more room I think I would have bought twice as much..

Golden beets, tomatillos, cherry tomatoes--Parker Farm
Blueberries, Red leaf lettuce, cauliflower, brussels sprouts(!) and cilantro- Kimball Farm
7 grain bread- Iggy's
Shallot and pepper- Drumlin
Burrata-Fiore di Nonno

The white veggie bags are reusable and can be found at Greenward on Mass Ave in Cambridge (close to Porter Sq).

Look at all the color! 

The bike and bags to carry my food!

Local for breakfast

Good Morning! 

It is a beautiful Saturday morning and it is Union Sq. market day!  I have Fiori di Nonno's pea and garlic puree mixed with labne and mascarpone burrata on hold and a loaf of Iggy's 7 grain bread with my name on it.   Soon I will hop on my bike and pedal my way down the square to stock up for the week with items that were either picked or made within the last 24 hours.  

First, a hardy breakfast to provide energy and sustenance!  Local is not just for dinner, but finds its way into every meal I prepare.  Breakfast this morning is yummy fresh egg whites (from Wareham, MA not Iowa!!) on top of Iggy's 7 Grain Bread (Cambridge MA) and a yellow tomato (the last of what I bought last week and still fresh!).  Instead of butter or margarine, I drizzled a bit of oil and garlic over the bread and topped it all with a of VT goat cheese.  I paired this with Parker Farm yellow dolly melon and Thatcher's farm milk.  The melon, which I bought unaware of what it was, is less sweet then typical pink watermelon but very tasty and refreshing.   

Thatcher's milk comes in a fun glass bottle that is returned when empty and reused..even better than recycling a carton it returning a glass bottle to get more milk!

This meal will keep me full for the day, which is great since I will be biking around the city completing errands and enjoying the final days of Summer.  

If you are not near Union Sq, no worries there are plenty of markets going on around the state.  Here is a link that will guide you to the one nearest to you: http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org/FMFM_Main.aspx

Stay happy and healthy!

~L