Farmer's Market -1st of the season!

This is a picture taken from their website. Don't you just love how pretty everything is???

Anyone who has followed my blog for the past year knows how excited I get about Farmer's Markets. I love to be able to buy locally and I also love to be able to save money on my grocery bill. You also know that I live in Southwest Florida and that my growing season here is completely opposite of the majority of the country.

Today was the very first day of the all organic, sustainably farmed and local Worden Farm Farmer's Market at Fisherman's Village!!! I have been planning a trip there now for about 7 months (hehe that's when they closed for the summer!). This was a thrill though. Myself and one of my girlfriends' who shares a love of good, fresh food and cooking, hoped in the car and headed north to the Farmer's Market! It was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm with an nice breeze that managed to keep it just slightly cool. We were so not disappointed! This market is gorgeous. Not only is the setting nice. Right on the water of Charlotte Harbor but the fresh vegetables, the beautiful fresh vegetables!

My haul - Tat Soi (Asian Spinach), Arugula (see those bags? $3 for organic arugula!!!), lettuces, radishes, shitake mushrooms, cucumber, squash blossoms and a big beautiful loaf of rustic bread!!!

Dinner last night was hectic as T. is working on a deadline and wasn't able to help out with dinner while I did Karate, so it was a big happy bowl of pea soup, with that incredible loaf of bread and some beer battered squash blossoms!


Deep Fried Squash Blossoms (recipe by Mark Bittman-How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)

Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy bottomed pot to at least 350 degrees.

1 Cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 Cup for dredging
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
3/4 Cup beer or sparkling water (I stole T.'s beer for this one)
Coarse salt for finishing

• While the oil is heating mix the batter ingredients until just combined. This batter should be the consistency of pancake batter.
• Dredge each blossom lightly in the plain flour and then dip into the batter and place gently in the oil. Do not crowd the blossoms in the oil, you may have to cook in batches. Cook turning once until a nice golden brown.
• Drain on a rack or paper towels and serve immediately

I LOVE MY FARMER'S MARKET!!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Quick dinner on a crazy night...

***(Ignore the funny type and boxes - blogger seems to have a mind of it's own today!!!)

My meals are starting to develop a bit of a pattern I am finding. I can never remember what I had planned to make so I end up winging it at the last minute. Thank goodness. Because some of the things I have been turning out have been pretty good! It guess it doesn't hurt when you have a fridge full of fresh produce that needs to be used up before it goes bad????

Last night was another of those nights. I had bought some poblano peppers so that I could make "Arroz Verde con Poblanos" from Ramblings of a Frantic Cook. I also knew that I wanted to cook up the fresh boat shrimp that I had bought the other day at the market and roast some of the zucchini and summer squash. How could I pull this altogether so I didn't have such a mishmashed meal????
Arroz Verde con Poblanos

3 Poblano peppers (seeded and membrane removed)
2 cups of warm chicken stock
bunch of cilantro
1 cup rice
1 onion (chopped)
2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper


In a blender mix the peppers, chicken stock and cilantro. In a small pan cook the onion in the olive oil. When the onion is cooked add the chicken stock, pepper and cilantro and heat to a boil. Add the rice. Allow to simmer covered for 20-25 minutes. (Francie has some great pictures on her blog so go check them out!)

Raspberry Marinade for Lamb Chops

Last night we wanted something different but staying true to my food philosphy if it was to be meat it had to be from a sustainable, all natural, no antibiotic or growth hormone, small farmed meat. We choose lamb chops. Most lamb is farmed in Australia or New Zealand, and while this doesn't fit into the local profile I am still an omnivore and need meat. Lamb is an all natural meat. The New Zealand lamb that we ate last night follows all of the other restrictions that I have. The animals are raised in pasture. Eating only the grass that is grown. They practice sustainable farming and healthy slaughter. To read more check out the New Zealand Lamb website.

Anyway I had developed a recipe last week for a raspberry sauce to go with my Spring Themed Menu that was in my newsletter for this month and still had some left over in the fridge. Tony was making dinner so he decided to make it into a marinade and to use it to marinade the rack of lamb.

Click here for recipe for Lamb Marinade!

Turned out delicious and we served it with a fresh salad using the left over salad ingredients from last Wednesdays trip to Worden Farms Farmer's Market. As usual the ingredients were amazing. Leaf lettuce, white onion, red radishes, and grated Parmesan cheese!

It doesn't get much better!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com