When I go to the Peekskill Farmer’s market I can’t resist the beautiful fruits, vegetables and other local offerings – so much so that when I get home on Saturday morning I need to make a plan for my food so it doesn’t go to waste. On this blog I’ll write about how I’m using my Peekskill Farmer’s Market haul throughout the week, and post some of my favorite recipes. Feel free to skip right to my plan and recipes if the following is too much chit chat.
My first stop at the market is always the Healthway Farms table, run by former chef and current farmer Rhonda O’Brian. Her fruits and vegetables are fresh from Highland New York, and she always has a great variety of greens, root vegetables and in-season fruits. Her specialty, and what keeps me coming back, are many not-to-be-found-in-the-supermarket varieties of potatoes. This week I took home a couple of pounds of French fingerlings and small purple potatoes. If you haven’t tried purple potatoes they’re a real treat – beautiful to look at and deliciously tender when cooked. I also snatched up the last of her purplish asparagus (I guess I’m a sucker for purple vegetables) and some super-sweet snap peas. For other root vegetables I picked up some staples – carrots, beets and onions. I topped it off with some bright pink radishes for all the salads I knew we’d be eating this week. I bypassed some delicious-looking strawberries because I was planning on picking some with my family on Sunday at Fishkill farms, which we did do in the hot sun – so I’ll include my strawberry haul in my week’s plan even though they weren’t from the PFM.
While I was visiting with Rhonda, my husband stopped off at Shades of Green, and the little French pastry stand, where he picked up a lovely bag of little creme-somethings – I’ll get the name next week because that bag is now long gone. He also went over to Panzarella to pick up some fresh mozzarella and their delicious frozen crab cakes (one of my favorite quick meals when I have no plan). I stopped off at a new vendor, Cooperstown Cheese, to sample some of their “Alpine style” offerings, and wound up taking home a small hunk of their delicious Toma Torino. Next I wandered over to the Pennsylvania farmer’s table. One thing I like about the PA farmers is that their growing season starts just a little earlier than ours, so I was able to buy some cherries and blueberries even though they aren’t quite ready here in NY. They also carry amazing watermelons in the summer, in addition to the full variety of fruits and vegetables.
My final stop at the market was the brand-new fresh fish stand! I am really excited about this new vendor. They were selling crabs, blackfish, flounder, and my favorite – sea scallops. I had never tried blackfish and asked the vendor about it. She said it was actually a white fish and that everyone seems to rave about it, so I decided to give it a try. I was not sorry! With some salt, pepper and a quick sear/pan frying, that fish was delicious and easy to make. I’ll save the scallops for next week.
Now I must confess that I’m also part of a small CSA at Hemlock Hill Farm in Cortland, straight up Maple Avenue. They are by trade more of a meat farm, although they have always grown some small crops for themselves and to sell or be picked by customers. The owners of Hemlock Hill Farm are longtime friends of mine, and their commitment to continue farming in Westchester County through a lot of difficulties has been impressive through the years. The farm was started by John DeMaria’s father, and now his youngest daughter Laura is running most of the day-to-day. They graze antibiotic and hormone free cows, pigs, goats, sheep and chickens. They also have their own eggs which are amazing.
But back to the CSA! Laura’s cousin Trish Vasta has come for the entire growing season from her home in San Diego, where she is a farming educator, to grow organic veggies for their CSA. This week was my first pickup and I have an abundance of delicious greens – mustard, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, mesclun, arugula, spinach – plus a huge portion of garlic scapes, some cilantro and herbs. Rhonda also had scapes and greens at the PFM this week so maybe some of my planning will come in handy for you if you picked them up there.
So here was my plan for the week, and how it’s going so far:
Friday (my HH pickup is Thursday)
– quiche with chard, kale, garlic scapes, leftover roasted purple potatoes (from last week’s FM), thyme and goat cheese
– green salad (Yes it’s a challenge to use all those greens in one week – I hope I can do it because I hate to waste them)
Saturday
Lunch – Fresh mozzarella on baguette from The Daily Bread, with garlic scape pesto I had made on Friday
Dinner
– Pan fried blackfish with garlic scape pesto,
–Boiled fingerling and small purple potatoes cut in half and drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper
–Salad with greens, snap peas, grated carrots and radishes
Sunday
Leftovers – we were pretty tired from Strawberry picking. I did manage to wash and hull the strawberries I was planning to freeze and use in a cobbler. I also prepared the cobbler filling and dough so I could cook it Monday while we made and ate dinner.
Monday
–Marinated Flat Iron steak from Hemlock Hill farms – I love marinating this the night before because you come home and dinner is almost ready!
–Boiled fingerling and small purple potatoes cut in half and drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper
–Salad with greens, radishes, grated carrot and snap peas
– Strawberry rhubarb cobbler with vanilla ice cream (Pretty decadent for a Monday night family dinner, but how can you not celebrate a beautiful strawberry crop?)
Monday night I was starting to worry about my asparagus not making it much longer, so after the cobbler cooked I put it on a tray with olive oil salt and pepper and roasted it for about 10 minutes at 375, then refrigerated it to use in Tuesday’s dinner. I also rubbed my beets with some olive oil, put them in tin foil and roasted them around 1 hour.
Tuesday
–Risotto with roasted asparagus and what I think is baby spinach – at any rate it’s some kind of green
–green salad with roasted beets (roasted them the night before for around 1 hour at 400 degrees)
After today it’s more of a rough plan – these are some ideas:
Wednesday
–Black beans and rice flavored with some of my garlic scape pesto and cilantro – I soak the beans the night before and boil them in the morning, but you can use canned. I top with a cut-up avocado and some shredded cheddar.
Thursday
Hopefully by today we’ll have gone through all our greens, because today is our pickup at the CSA and I’m sure it will bring a fresh crop.
– Pasta with garlic scape pesto cream sauce and parmesan cheese
– Green salad with grated carrots and radishes (we’ve eaten all the snap peas)
Friday
(I may be inspired by what was in the CSA basket, but here’s a rough idea. By Friday a lot of times I’m winding down and don’t feel too ambitious about dinner)
–Crab cakes with yogurt sauce, or fritatta with leftover greens, goat cheese and leftover cooked potatoes
–green salad or sautéed greens with garlic
OK, now here are some recipes. Let me know what you’re cooking from the Peekskill Farmer’s Market!
Salad dressing for the week: (all measurements approximate and to taste)
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon dijon mustard
1 heaping teaspoon honey
1 ½ cups olive oil
If you are using a whisk or fork, first whisk together the vinegar, mustard and honey then slowly add the olive oil whisking the whole time until emulsified. If you have an immersion blender, which I use, just blend all the ingredients together until emulsified, about 15 seconds or so.
Garlic scape pesto
10-ish garlic scapes roughly chopped
½ cup sunflower seeds, pine nuts or walnuts
1 cup grated parmeggianno-reggianno cheese
juice from ½-1 whole lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup or more olive oil
Blend all ingredients except olive oil in the food processor. Add the oil through the top with the processor running, until you have the flavor and consistency you like. You can also try using feta cheese instead of parmesan – I just don’t know if that freezes as well and I do wind up freezing some of this. It’s great to freeze in ice cube trays then add a cube to things you’re cooking, like sauces or rice and beans.
Greens and leftover potato quiche (makes 2)
Note – I actually hate making homemade pie crust, but we didn’t have any store bought and I happened to have the time that day – plus homemade ingredients are a little better. You will save a ton of time if you buy a natural store crust and just make the filling. Or, you could make a fritatta with the filling and forget the crust entirely.
Crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1 cup white flour, 1 cup wheat flour, ½ cup corn meal, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt whisked together
Cut in or add in food processor 1.5 sticks butter, then ¼ cup olive oil. After that stir in about 1/3 cup ice water or more until dough forms but isn’t sticky. Roll into a ball, flatten a little and put in the refrigerator for ½ hour or up to a couple of days. You can make the filling in the meantime. After refrigerating, divide into 2 pieces and roll into balls. Then roll out on a floured surface and place into glass or metal pie pans. Cover with tin foil and fill with rice or beans. Bake about 15-20 minutes until set.
Filling:
7 eggs
1 ½ cups whole milk or half and half
6 oz goat cheese
thyme
salt and pepper
If you have it – a few leftover roasted or boiled halved baby potatoes (or cut up larger potato)
Sautee 2-3 chopped garlic scapes, then add a couple of bunches of chard, kale or spinach and cook until wilted. Salt to taste. Place on the bottom of the two pie crusts, add the potatoes if using, then pour the egg mixture over. Don’t overfill crusts – you can use extra filling to make a mini fritatta or delicious scrambled eggs. Bake around 45 minutes at 350 degrees until lightly golden.
Steak marinade – especially great on Hemlock Hill flank steak or flat iron steak
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tbs red wine vinegar (or other vinegar is OK to substitute)
¼ cup honey
3 cloves chopped or pressed garlic
Marinate overnight or up to 2 days. Throw steak on the grill or a very hot pan for 3-4 minutes each side (or longer depending on thickness).
Strawberry rhubarb cobbler
If you’re making this ahead like I did, store the fruit mix in a bowl or container and the dough in a ball in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together in a 12” oval or rectangular glass baking dish:
1 quart strawberries hulled and chopped in half if they’re large
2 lbs rhubarb stalks sliced into 1-inch pieces
½ cup sugar
Dough:
Whisk together:
1 cup flour
1.5 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup cornmeal
½ tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
cut in (or use food processor):
6 tablespoons butter cut into pieces until blended to the size of peas
stir in:
½ cup milk, half and half or heavy cream
Stir until just blended – overstirring will cause the dough to be chewy. Break the dough into small pieces and spread over the fruit mixture in the baking dish. Bake about 45 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling.
Asparagus and greens risotto
1 small or half regular onion chopped small
1/2 tsp salt
Butter and/or olive oil
2 cups Arborio rice
½ cup white wine
About 6 cups chicken stock, preferably low sodium (may need more)
1 bunch roasted or steamed asparagus chopped into 1 inch pieces
2-3 cups baby spinach, arugula or or other greens, chopped or torn
1 cup grated parmeggianno-reggiano cheese
Sautee onion in butter and olive oil on medium heat. Add rice, stir until almost translucent, about 1 minute. Add salt. Add wine and stir until it evaporates. Pour in 3 cups of stock and turn the heat to medium high. Give the rice a good stir. When the liquid is almost all absorbed, add another cup of stock and stir frequently. Repeat until the rice is almost tender. Add the greens and asparagus and stir – add more liquid if needed. When greens have wilted and rice is tender, stir in the parmesan cheese and serve.
Enjoy!
