Showing posts with label farmer's market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farmer's market. Show all posts

Roasted Tomato Tart, Rainier Cherries And Scenes From A Weekend



    "The baby goats were born this morning" Robert texted me last Monday. We had just been to the farm with the kids a few days prior and we could see that the baby goat mamma Daisy was due any minute.

    "We will stop by this weekend. I can't wait to see them" I texted back.



    We had lots of plans for the weekend. It was C's 40th birthday after all and although he wanted to keep it quiet, we invited some friends over for dinner. We spent Sunday morning cooking and getting the house ready for our guests. C. even woke up at insane hours of the night to get his smoked brisket going. This man is obsessed with barbecue.



    We planned a very relaxed summer menu. Just the way I like to eat. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Very similar to the summer parties we throw back home.

    Our menus are always eclectic, but that seems to be what friends like about them. The unexpected, I suppose.

    On my side I had planned to make a tortilla de patatas (a must have every time my friend Deena comes over). Also a fennel, zucchini and Rainier cherry salad, a roasted tomato and watercress tart, cherry and hazelnut gratin and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. Not bad, I thought.



    "I have to run to Robert and Paula's to get eggs for the tart and the tortilla before it's too late" I told C.

    Jon was too busy playing with water balloons with the neighborhood kids, so I put Miren in the car and drove to the farm. I was excited for her to see the new babies, Peanut and Peabody.



    It was early afternoon. The rain that had fallen the day before combined with the high temperatures made for a very humid day. The babies were hiding inside their crate while the rest of the animals found shelter under the trees. Not even the chickens wanted to come out. I didn't blame them.

    Miren was mesmerized by the babies. Even at a week old they were playful around each other. What a beautiful sight.

    We picked some tomatoes and purple peppers for the party. "They smell like they have already been roasted!" I told Robert.

    Have you ever smelled purple pepper? So intense and smoky. I made the best salad with them the following day.



    We came back home to finish cooking. Luckily the kids got to nap and rest before friends arrived, which always helps.

    I managed to take a photo of the table with my phone.

    A feast, no?



    Roasted Tomato and Watercress Tart

    Roasted Tomatoes

    3 medium tomatoes (about 1 lb 4 oz or 560 g), sliced into 1/4" rounds
    1 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp black pepper
    2 Tbs olive oil
    bunch of fresh thyme


    Pre-heat oven to 300F.

    Drizzle the bottom of a sheet pan with 1 Tbs of olive oil. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper on top. Lay the tomato slices on the pan. Drizzle the remaining olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme.

    Bake the tomatoes for 1 1/2 hours or until soft but still hold their shape. Reserve.

    Tart Crust

    2/3 cup (90 g) superfine brown rice flour
    1/3 cup (45 g) quinoa flour
    1/4 cup (40 g) potato starch
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/4 tsp black pepper
    2 tsp thyme leaves
    8 Tbs (110 g) cold unsalted butter, diced (I used non hydrogenated shortening)
    5-6 Tbs ice water


    Combine the first six ingredients in the food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the diced and cold butter and pulse until the butter is cut into the flour into pea size pieces. Add the ice water and pulse until the dough comes together. It will not form a ball, just press it to see if it holds together. Add 1 Tbs of ice water if needed.

    Transfer the dough t your work surface and press it together into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

    Dust your surface with superfine brown rice flour. Roll the dough to 1/8" thickness. Fill a 9" tart mold with the dough. Cut off excess dough. Chill the tart for another 30 minutes while preparing the filling.

    Roasted Tomato and Watercress Filling

    Bunch of fresh watercress, stems removed
    Roasted tomatoes
    2 eggs
    1 Tbs plus 2 tsp cornstarch (12 g)
    1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
    1/4 tsp salt
    1/4 tsp black pepper
    Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
    2 oz mozzarella (I used the cheese substitute Daiya)



    Pre-heat oven to 400F.

    Fill the bottom of the chilled tart with the roasted tomatoes. Add the watercress on top.

    In a bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the tomatoes.

    Bake for 30 minutes or until tope is golden brown. Cool for 20 minutes before slicing.




Post Title

→

Roasted Tomato Tart, Rainier Cherries And Scenes From A Weekend


Post URL

→

https://mercymadame.blogspot.com/2011/05/roasted-tomato-tart-rainier-cherries.html


Visit Merci Madame for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

A Sunday Trip to the Farmers Market and Eggs for Brunch



    A couple of days ago, I was thinking that if there is one single food item I could not live without, that must be eggs. I am a person of habits and my oatmeal and one egg every morning is one of those things I would not want to change.

    Fresh farm eggs are a luxury these days. Even back home where we grew up eating my grandparents' chickens' eggs, it is difficult to find someone to buy eggs from. So when I went to our farmers market a couple of weeks ago and found a stand with fresh farm eggs, I almost started to cry. I was so excited. It's crazy how our food culture has changed. The carton of eggs said "Fresh Farm Eggs - Not For Human Consumption". If this is not crazy, I don't know what is.



    I love to discover new ingredients and to talk to the farmers about their qualities and how to cook them. Farmer Sal from Varri Green Farm had the most beautiful greens I have ever seen. Yu choy sum they are called. I had never tasted them and talked to him about his favorite way to prepare them. "Sauteed in olive oil and garlic", he said.



    I was carrying M. in the front carrier so I was limited with how much food I could buy, but I came home with the eggs, yu choy sum, Sicilian eggplants, shallots, beans, tomatoes, strawberries, rainbow chard and a pot of garlic chives. Next time, I am bringing the stroller so I can use it as a grocery cart.

    I made a mid morning snack for all of us. Sauteed some of the greens with shallots and scrambled some eggs into them. Finished all with the yu choy sum flowers, garlic chives and served it on C's toasted sourdough bread. I have to tell you, the man knows how to make a good loaf of bread. Now I just have to convince him to try his hand at a gluten free version.

Post Title

→

A Sunday Trip to the Farmers Market and Eggs for Brunch


Post URL

→

https://mercymadame.blogspot.com/2010/02/sunday-trip-to-farmers-market-and-eggs.html


Visit Merci Madame for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

A New York Kind of Weekend, Part I



    This past weekend, I flew out to New York City for my second Sunday Suppers dinner where I was featured as a guest chef. It was a weekend full of food, friends, laughs and sunshine and I couldn't be more thankful for all of it. The amount of time and dedication that goes into it is unbelievable, but so worth it and I can't thank Karen and Casey enough for their support and friendship.

    I will share photos of the actual Sunday Suppers dinner soon, but first I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite images from the day before the dinner at the farmer's market at Union Square. I wanted to cry it was so beautiful.



    Before I left for New York, my dear friend Deb offered me to stay at her apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn while she was away on vacation. She is one of the most generous and warm hearted people I have ever met and I will be eternally grateful to her for many reasons. I ended up staying in her super cute, vintage Greenpoint apartment with her two kitties Icky and Max who kept me company.



    I flew out to New York on Friday morning. This time around, I really wanted to have a day off to enjoy the city and have some quality time with friends.

    I had a three course dessert menu planned for Sunday and lots of prep to do. As soon as I arrived in the city, I headed over to Karen's for a five hour prep session where I got so much done. That always feels great and then had the rest of the night to enjoy dinner with my dear friend Amy Atlas.

    She made a reservation at Dos Caminos in SoHo. We talked about life, work, motherhood... and how to balance it all. She is warm, generous, funny, sincere and I am so thankful our paths connected. It was an amazing evening. Thank you Amy!

    Sweet Karen Mordechai

    The next morning, Karen, Casey and I headed to the Union Square farmer's market to shop for some of the ingredients for the dinner. It was a joy to be there even in the middle of a heat wave. The produce, flowers, dairy farmers, organic growers, wild game, fish... It was a food lovers dream and reminded me very much of the markets back home.

    I found the most beautiful and sweet tiny strawberries, red currants and purple blossoms for the berry consomme and lemon champagne sorbet pre-dessert I was going to have the next day. Marigolds and greens for one of Casey's salads, garlic blossoms for the couscous salad, the sweetest and tiniest tomatoes and crates and crates of so much more... A dream.

    After the farmer's market, we had lunch at Pastis and then, Casey and I headed to Chelsea Market for some more shopping and gelato. She and I walked around for a bit, visited New York Cake and Baking, laughed, walked down a street fair, laughed some more. It was the perfect ending to a perfect New York day if you ask me.

    Photo by Karen Mordechai Photography

    There was quite of bit of traveling this summer for me, but this will be my last trip in a few months because as you can see in the last photo, there is a baby growing in my belly and yes, I am getting bigger and bigger everyday. I am just happy I got to do this before life gets a bit crazier.

    And to top it all off, Amy finally convinced me of the wonders of Twitter so I'm finally on and you can follow me here. Hope you had a great weekend too!


Post Title

→

A New York Kind of Weekend, Part I


Post URL

→

https://mercymadame.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-york-kind-of-weekend-part-i.html


Visit Merci Madame for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Popular Posts

My Blog List