Winter Farmer's Market -- in Milwaukee!

Eating locally in Wisconsin can be a challenge -- particularly during the winter months. But, a new development will make it easier for a great many of us. Milwaukee has decided to sponsor a winter farmers' market!

I caught wind of the market a few weeks ago; but, at that point the listing of vendors had not yet been released. This morning, I was excited to find an announcement in my inbox indicating that the market will feature locally grown produce, meats, and other food products from a whole host of vendors that we absolutely LOVE.

Some of the familiar favorites include:

• Bolzano Artisan Meats Wisconsin’s first (and only) purveyor of dry-cured meats (located right here in Milwaukee)
  
• JenEhr Family Farm Our favorite organic farm, located in Sun Prairie, WI.
• Jeff-Leen Farm Awesome fresh eggs and pastured beef from Random Lake, WI.
• Oly’s Oats Wisconsin-milled oats and grains.
• Pinehold Gardens Another lovely organic farm, located in Oak Creek, WI. These guys not only grow great veg, but they sponsor the annual pig roast we attend every year.
  

A couple of other vendors we're excited about include:

• Golden Bear Monarchs Elk Farm How great will it be to be able to get locally raised elk... and pheasants??!! (Beloit, WI)
  
• Rolling Meadows Sorghum Mill Local producers of sorghum, maple syrup and honey (Elkhart Lake, WI)
  

The market will be held on Saturday mornings from 8am-12pm from November 7, 2009 thru April 24, 2010 at the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Building at the Wisconsin State Fair Park.

More information available at MCWFM.org.


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Full-On Beet Risotto with Toasted Pecans

It's that time again -- the point in the year when you can saunter through the farmer's market and find absolutely perfect beets.
You know the ones -- the deeply colored purples, reds, pinks, and golds. Candy cane, bull's blood, Chioggas, and goldens. Not only are the roots flawless and plump -- but the greens are crisp and well formed.

I don't know about you, but I insist upon buying beets with the greens still attached. Not only are they lovely (and tasty -- similar to the flavor of Swiss Chard) -- but they really pack a nutritional punch. They're rich in chlorophyll and can actually possess a higher overall nutritional value than the beet root itself.

On this particular day, the red beets were calling my name. The wind was feeling a bit cool, and I was craving some serious comfort food. Beet risotto anyone?
Whenever I make beet risotto, I always go back to the same recipe -- brilliant beet risotto, which was inspired by an article from Food & Wine magazine a number of years ago). Like many great recipes, it's really more about technique than ingredients, and you can make all sorts of modifications to the ingredients of the recipe to suit your own tastes.

The first step is to chop the beets finely in your food processor. You'll do the same to the beet greens as well.
You saute onion and garlic, toast your arborio rice, and then add the raw beets and greens to the risotto pot. Add your stock, stir, and repeat. By the time your rice is al dente it's also deliciously pink. The beets are cooked and the kitchen smells great.
At this point, you can add your favorite cheese and any number of delicious add-ins.

In our case, we opted for a bit of Wisconsin parmesan and a dab of local buttermilk bleu cheese. I also stirred in some toasted pecans -- which added great flavor, a bit of protein, and a little bit of toothiness.
We've also tried other awesome combinations: cheddar cheese with a spoonful of horseradish, sour cream with chopped fresh dill weed, goat cheese and toasted walnuts... the possibilities are endless.

Brilliant Beet Risotto


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Crisp Roasted Curried Cauliflower with Tofu

We are huge fans of roasted vegetables. The heat of summer normally horns in on our desire to heat up the kitchen with anything close to a 400º oven. But, on cooler days, we can make an exception. And thank goodness!

One of the things we most love to roast is cauliflower. Seems a bit of high heat does wonders for the sweetness of this vegetable. Not to mention giving it a lovely caramelized color.

Add a few colorful spices, and you're on your way to something wonderful.
Once everything is mixed together, you just slide the seasoned vegetables into their luxury tanning bed...
And WA-LA! They come out looking rather spectacular!
This cauliflower is a splendiforous departure from some of the other treatments for late-summer cauliflower. It combines the warm, sensual aromas of Indian curry with the ease of a one-pot dinner.

And the leftovers... ah! the leftovers! They're almost better than the first time around. Wrap a spoonful up in a pita for a quick sandwich. Add a splash of cream and whir in the blender for a quick, creamy soup. Or just do as I do, and eat it cold, straight from the fridge. Oh, and those of you making icky faces and "boo-ing" need to try it before judging too harshly :)

I like throwing tofu in this dish. But, you can easily make it without. It's also great with a bit of cooked chicken, or as a side dish with a more expansive Indian feast.

We served this with a side of fresh radish raita -- a simple mixture of yogurt, minced radishes and cucumbers, red wine vinegar, chopped fresh mint, and a pinch of salt. It cut the heat of the dish nicely, and gave the hot cauliflower a nice, cool, summer crunch.Crisp Roasted Curried Cauliflower with (or without) Tofu

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West Bend Farmer's Market

Another weekend down. And another trip to a new farmer's market accomplished!

I have to admit that I didn't really know what to expect when we journeyed up to West Bend to check out their Saturday morning market. The last time I'd been there was about ten years ago, and there were only a few vendors. But, these days, the West Bend Farmer's Market is pretty inspiring. Not only is it HUGE (it takes up a couple of blocks downtown), but there was lots of phenomenal produce to be had.

We arrived at the market hungry, and were glad to find lots of delicious edibles ready to be snarfed. These cinnamon claws were just right -- not too sweet, with plenty of cinnamon flavor.
The watermelon was also looking pretty refreshing. We passed on buying one of these lovely melons, but I've been regretting it ever since.
Seems quite a number of vendors had an unusually nice aesthetic going on. This farm displayed all of their lovely produce in baskets, which made me want to take home one of everything.
And I was really pleased by the selection of goodies being offered. We picked up a couple of fine looking zucchini, some eggplant, and a nice bunch of chard.
Other vendors seemed to prize size over just about anything. These kohlrabis were a steal at just $3 each.
But, the winner of the market was, by far, the garlic. Seems garlic was available just about everywhere -- in all sorts of forms.
In fact, I was absolutely tickled to find an entire table of garlic varieties -- all clearly labeled with informative descriptions. We ended up hauling home a number of heads, despite the fact that we were already pretty well stocked!
But, that wasn't the end of our adventure! We also found lots of local delicacies that we weren't expecting -- like locally grown flavored popcorn!
Oh, yes -- and the entertainment was also pretty... er... entertaining.

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B.A.T. Sammiches

We like standards around our house as much as anyone. But, sometimes it's fun to jazz them around a bit.

This particular sammich was inspired by the classic B.L.T. But, I think you'll agree that it takes things a few miles further.

After all, we couldn't resist starting with a bit of brown sugar bacon. (This is seriously one of my new favorite things... I can't resist the salty-sweet crunch on a nice piece of thick-cut bacon. You really must try it, if you haven't already.)
I'm a fan of throwing the bacon in the oven (I bake mine at 425º... you can do as you like) -- where it can crisp away for 15-20 minutes without a stitch of attention from me. In the case of brown sugar bacon, a bit of parchment goes a loooong way toward the clean-up.

Now aren't they pretty?
I'm also a huge fan of sammiches on "real" bread. So, even when we err on the white side of things, we always go for a nice artisan sourdough from our local Wild Flour bakery. Look at the chops on that loaf! I'm beginning to drool.
So, the bacon is out of the oven, and the bread is sliced... and we just happen to have a nice (though very UNlocal) avocado ripening on the counter. I'm thinking that would be lovely on here. So, I slice it up, along with one of the tomatoes from the garden. Throw some local pepper-jack cheese on there, as well as some locally grown sprouts... and toss the whole sammich on the panini press for a few moments.
I am telling you, this sammich is no joke.
The B.A.T. may not have quite as cool a name as the B.L.T., but it sure gives it a run for its money in the flavor department. The spicy cheese is a fanTAStic foil for the sweet bacon. The tomato brings some nice acidicy to the table. The sprouts provide a nice crunch. And the sexy avocado... well, he's just the icing on the cake. No mayo needed on this sammy. Nope, nope.
I think you get my drift.
This is the sort of sammich that needs no accompaniment. You just need a nice plate... and a little bit of time alone.

LOCAL QUOTIENT: We did pretty well here with local bread, cheese, tomatoes, and sprouts. All from within 15 miles of our house. I won't lie... the avocado is a stranger in this land. But, he was very delicious, so we let him join in anyhow. 90% local?


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Crispifried Okra

Our adventures with oven "fried" zucchini made us eager to try this technique out with another vegetable. But what would be next??

Now, neither of us are from the south, but we're both suckers for some good old down-home cooking. So, we were super excited to find some delicious looking okra at the farmer's market. And since okra is made for frying, we decided to put it to the test.

We figured it was a good idea to show you that we really did start off with some nice, fresh okra.

Because the delightfully crisp results were almost too good to be true. These were crisp, light, and delightfully crunchy. Paired with four imaginative sauces (ginger wasabi, ketchup, siracha chile sauce, and ginger teriyaki), these were really too good for words.
Crisp. Crunchy. Browned. Delightful.

Oven Fried Okra
LOCAL QUOTIENT: The okra was locally grown, breadcrumbs came from leftover buns from a local bakery, and flour was milled in the Midwest. So, that's pretty darned local! Close to 90%


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Chicken Caccia-touille

Eggplant and zucchini both come around during the heat of summer when long, slow cooking is pretty much out of the question. In most cases, I'm doing all I can to avoid heating up the kitchen unnecessarily. But, sometimes I've got to make an exception.

The trip to the farmer's market this week produced a bumper crop of great stuff, including a few delicious "eight ball" zucchini, and one of my very favorite summer delicacies -- fairytale eggplants.

These purple beauties are not only cute as a button (measuring an inch or two long, and about 1/2 inch at their widest point), but they cook up like butter. One of my favorite things to do is to pop their stems off and roast (or grill) them.

In this particular case, we were experiencing a bit of a break from the summer heat. And I was brainstorming how to use some of the farmer's market vegetables in conjunction with some chicken pieces I had thawing in the refrigerator. I was craving comfort food, and I happened to have a couple of sweet peppers available out of my own garden, so my first impulse was to make a cacciatore. But, a better plan seemed to be to take the zucchini and eggplant and throw them together into a summer ratatouille.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered what it would be like if I simply combined the two recipes into something completely different.

So, I took the vegetables and roasted them up nice and tender. And I threw together a chunky tomato sauce, fortified with sweet peppers, onions, and a liberal dose of red wine. Add to that a bit of herbs de provence (central to a good ratatouille)... and put the chicken on to simmer. When the chicken was tender, I tossed the reduced sauce with the roasted vegetables and called it dinner.

The resulting dish was far better than the sum of its parts. Succulent stewed chicken, tender-crisp summer vegetables, and a sauce riddled with wine and herbs.

This caccia-touille was one of the best things we've tasted in a very long time.

And we'll share. Cuz we're nice people that way!
Chicken Caccia-touille



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Zucchini Fries!

I'm not obsessed with making things healthier, especially if I have to sacrifice flavor in order to do it. But, when I find a way to create something that is both healthy and tasty, I'm a HUGE fan.

These veggie fries are an exceedingly good example of healthy cooking gone absolutely right. The relative ease of the recipe makes it even better. Just a bit of flour, some cornmeal, a few seasonings (this is a great place to get creative), and a couple of eggs... and you have yourself the makings for a snack that rivals french fries.

And what could be bad about that?
You'll catch us making these babies every chance we get. Especially right now when zucchini has gone wild at the farmer's market.

Don't make us be the only ones! Try them yourself.
Zucchini Oven Fries


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Cathedral Square Farmer's Market

We've been touring farmer's markets this year... bopping over to this one one week, and another the next. It's been scads of fun. And we like the variety of vendors we get to visit. This past week, we visited the East Town Market at Cathedral Square Park. This market is open on Saturdays from 8am-12pm.

This is a lovely, urban market, just east of the center of downtown Milwaukee. It attracts a pretty diverse crowd -- eager east-siders looking for farm-fresh delights, downtown apartment-dwellers craving their morning coffee, and folks like us who tooled over from the northwest side of town to take a gander at all that's fresh and frivolous.

Before we started our escapade, we couldn't resist grabbing an iced coffee from Stone Creek, a local coffee roaster who has a tent at the market.
Next stop, the artisan bread baked by Wild Flour Bakery. These guys make the best sourdough breads around. My favorite is a whole wheat sourdough with sunflower seeds, rye chops, poppy, sesame, millet, oats, flax, and wheat.People aren't the only critters getting their feast on down here at the market! Check out these very chic urban doggie treats that are up for sale!
Willoway Farm is my new favorite organic vendor. These fine people run a 7 acre farm in Fredonia, WI that uses organic and biodynamic farming methods. They set up their cozy little tent at the market underneath the shade of one of the park's big trees.
This is where we've been buying all that fantastic heirloom radicchio that we've been grilling! She informed us that this would be the last week for the radicchio crop, so we bought up one of the last heads that she had!
We also checked out the fresh crop of green beans for sale at a nearby vendor...
And grabbed a couple of these tasty little eggplants on the way out!
OH! How I love an early Saturday morning filled with shopping at the market... it wreaks of hope and anticipation of a week filled with great cooking!



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Farmer's Market: West Allis

Normally, we're trolling farmers' markets as soon as we possibly can -- which, even here in the north can be as early as mid-May. But, this year it seems our weekends have been sucked up by other activities, so we've been a little behind.

We finally made it out to the West Allis farmer's market this weekend (in between drops of rain). Established in approximately 1919, the West Allis Farmers Market has been a source of fine fresh produce for generations of families. Grandparents and parents have brought their children and relatives to shop at one of the largest, if not the oldest, established Farmers Markets in southeastern Wisconsin. The grounds were newly renovated in 2007, and now provide one of the finest market experiences in the Milwaukee area.

That's Lo standing to the right of the sign.
As it turns out, there was Very Little produce at the market (we did spy some baby bok choy, and a few vendors offered spinach). But, we did see lots and lots of lovely flowers.
We ended up talking ourselves into a couple of early hydroponic tomatoes, but otherwise ended up empty handed for this week.

Thank goodness for our CSA!



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