Market Day!

I thought it might be fun, as the market season heats up and I start buying the lion's share of our food there, if I started showing you what I got, and sharing what I hoped to do with it. In the winter I try to shop with a specific list in hand, having plotted out meals ahead of time. But in the summer, I do things the other way around: head to the market (with a limited wad of cash), buy what looks best, and plan meals from there.

This morning's haul:

1 5.5-pound chicken ($21.25)
1 dozen large eggs ($5)
1 pound asparagus ($5)
2.5 pounds rhubarb ($10)
1 bunch (about 12 ounces) rainbow chard ($3)
1 bunch (about 2 ounces) chives ($2)
12 ounces feta cheese (buy one, get one free! At $6)
2 peonies ($5)
1 loaf bread ($6)
1 rhubarb galette ($6)
1 cup coffee ($1)

Grand total = $70.25

My plans:

Asparagus, chive, and feta frittata
Roasted chicken (+ leftovers + chicken stock for the freezer)
Rhubarb shrub syrup
Rhubarb tart
Sautéed chard and fried eggs on toast

What would you make?

Cream of Asparagus Soup

**NOTE: I have fixed the thing that was making it impossible to pin photos to Pinterest, thanks to this helpful post. If you have a blog and you've been having the same issue, I hope that helps! If you don't have a blog but you like to pin my posts and recipes, thank you! I love it when you share!!

For my blogday, I asked people to suggest things they'd like to see on the blog. My good friend Cassie asked for some asparagus soup, and since this hot weather is about to send the asparagus packing, it's now or never! I had never had asparagus soup before, and I have to say this is not my favorite preparation of this vegetable. Upon first taste I thought maybe I hadn't seasoned it well, or maybe it was too much stock and not enough vegetable, but after letting it rest a day in the fridge it turns out it was actually a pretty nice soup. It's just very, very subtle. And since asparagus has such a short season, I'd rather just barely saute it and toss with pasta, or shave it and pile it on a pizza, or steam it and dip it in a creamy sauce. But! If a velvety, subtly-flavored light green soup sounds like just the thing for you, give this a try!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

I've seen several recommendations from other sources that if you puree asparagus, you should strain it to remove any lingering tough or woody pieces, but I found it to be an unnecessary step. My soup was plenty smooth without straining. Follow your heart, though, and make sure to trim your asparagus well. Peeling the hard edges might also help with especially woody asparagus.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch spring onions, or 1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1- to 2-inch lengths

4 cups water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute about 3-5 minutes, until slightly softened. Add asparagus and toss together. Season with salt and pepper, add the water or stock, and simmer until the asparagus can be easily smashed against the side of the pot with a spoon, about 10-15 minutes (more or less depending on how thick your asparagus is). Puree in batches in a blender, and then return to the pot over low heat. Stir in the butter and cream, taste, and adjust seasoning. Serve warm or cold.

Yield: about 4-6 servings

Miso-Carrot Soup

We're back to it. Eating our vegetables, buying less stuff, spending more time with people we love. The sparkle of New Year's has worn off, and we're left with clouds and cold, sweaters and snow. How are your resolutions faring?

I am so excited about the food I've been eating lately. So many vegetables, roasted, braised, and sauteed, dressed merrily in herbs and spices, and dancing with citrus. It may be grey and dreary outside, but there is no shortage of color in the kitchen. Carrots! Beets! Blood oranges! Grapefruit!





Treat yourself to a really great lunch of miso-carrot soup and this beet salad, and then use the energy boost to power through a productive afternoon! All those fruits and veggies combine to give you superpowers that no rain/snow mix could dampen. Go forth and do great things!

p.s. Did you know that you can get ten pounds of organic carrots for just under $7 at Costco? Crazy deal.

p.p.s. If you make this salad and pack it for lunch, make double-triple sure the container it's in can't leak. The inside of my lunchbox was fuchsia for a day.

Miso-Carrot Soup
adapted from smitten kitchen

I used ginger-chicken broth in this soup, because I had it leftover, and wasn't a huge fan of it on its own, but vegetable broth is perfect as well. Make sure to choose a low-sodium version if you're not using homemade - the miso is pretty salty, and you want to be able to control the seasoning yourself.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 large vidalia onion, thinly sliced
4 medium cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
4 cups low-sodium broth
1/4 cup red miso paste
juice of 1 lemon

toasted sesame oil and roughly chopped parsley or cilantro, to finish

Place the oil in a large Dutch oven and heat over medium flame.  Add carrots, onion, and garlic, and saute until onions are translucent, about ten minutes. Add broth and ginger, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and puree in batches in a blender, or use an immersion blender. Ladle a small amount of soup into a small bowl, and whisk in the miso paste.  Whisk miso mixture and lemon juice into soup and taste, adding salt, pepper, or more miso if necessary. Ladle into bowls and finish with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and a sprinkling of fresh herbs.

Roasted Cranberry-Apple Sauce

I love chilly weather.  I love sweaters and fuzzy slippers and, Lord help me, I love my Snuggie.

Photo from Snuggie Sightings.  Bet you didn't know that was a thing!

Apparently, I'm not the only one.

Other things I love about the advent of chilly weather: roasting and baking!  Squash, apples, and cranberries.  Warm spicy drinks.  The Starbucks holiday cup!  Although I do think it's just a bit early for department stores to be busting out the Christmas music and decorations.

Seriously, though - I love roasted food.  And in the summer it feels almost like a sin to fire up the oven for dinner.  When it's cold (and you're quickly realizing that your apartment does not have the insulation quality you might hope for), firing up the oven is comforting and practical and fills your house with happy smells!  Especially if you make this roasted applesauce, which was one of the best experiments I've tried in a while.

This recipe is so simple and delicious - sweet apples, tart cranberries, and a spicy punch of fresh grated ginger. I used a mixture of apples that I had leftover from the Bucktown Apple Pie Contest (which I just realized I never told you about!  Silly me!).  Make sure to select apples that are good for baking or sauce, like Cortland, Jonathan, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, and Northern Spy.  See this article from Midwest Living for a great primer on the relative virtues of different types of apples.  When you mix different types together, you get a more complex flavor in the finished product.

So pretty!

Roasted Cranberry-Apple Sauce

About 10 pounds fresh apples, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped (about 20 large apples)
1 bag fresh cranberries, picked over for soft or rotten-looking ones
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  Spray a large roasting pan (or a couple of smaller pans, if you're like me) with nonstick cooking spray, and spread the apple and cranberry mixture out in an even layer.  Place pan into the oven, and roast for about 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  When the cranberries have burst, and the apples are completely soft and juicy, remove from the oven and mash with a potato masher.  Taste and add more maple syrup if you like.

Yield: 3 pints

Lavender Buttermilk Pancakes

I've been a little hesitant to sign up for a CSA box.  It sounds like a fantastic idea, but I just... I don't know.  I'm worried about what would happen if the entire box was full of things that one of us didn't like.  What would we do with all that food?  Maybe when we have a family to feed it won't seem so intimidating. 

For now, though, I've discovered this great service to supplement my farmers' market visits: Door to Door Organics.  They deliver boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables, and if you choose, they can all be from local farms!  They just recently started serving the Chicago area, and while I still prefer to choose my own produce at the market, this was a good experiment.  I left a cooler on my front porch yesterday morning when I left for work, and when I got home, it was filled with tons and tons of veggies:

Clockwise from top left: arugula, collard greens, dandelion greens, zucchini,
cucumber, green leaf lettuce, yellow squash, and red leaf lettuce.

I got them out, sorted through them, and then made pancakes and bacon for dinner.  That's just who I am.  Over the next few days, I will be munching my way through most of this solo, since nobody else who lives in my apartment eats leafy greens (unless they are extremely well hidden).  So I deserved pancakes... in advance of my healthy future decisions.  Right?



I always use the last bit of batter to make a bunny. 

 Just like my mom always did.



Lavender pancakes

Lavender Buttermilk Pancakes
adapted from smittenkitchen

The original recipe called for 3 cups of buttermilk.  I only had 2 cups of buttermilk, so I combined what remained of basically every sour-milk product in my refrigerator: buttermilk, yogurt, and kefir.  It was delicious.  If you have 3 cups of buttermilk, go ahead and use it, but if you only have kefir or yogurt, or you need to combine, have confidence that it will taste amazing.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk (or a combination of buttermilk, yogurt, and kefir)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
a few tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Preheat an electric griddle to 350, or a skillet over medium-high heat.  Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Add eggs, buttermik, and butter, and whisk until just barely combined.  You like the lumps.  Leave them in there.  Brush the griddle with canola or safflower oil, and use a 1/3-cup measuring cup to ladle batter onto it.  Sprinkle each pancake sparingly with lavender flowers; the flavor is very strong, so be careful not to use too much.  When bubbles form and start to burst on the surface of the pancakes, and the edges are dry, flip them over and cook until golden on both sides.  Serve with warm maple syrup.

Makes about 18 4-inch pancakes, plus one bunny.

Quick Takes!

I haven't participated in these before, but I've been reading others' for a while, and I have a bunch of random things to say today, so it seems like a perfect time to start!

1.

We're going out of town (again) this weekend.  Not anywhere fancy, just Indiana.  But we get to see a bunch of different friends.  On Saturday, we're going to a wedding.  I really love going to weddings.  Watching people exchange vows and rings takes me right back to my wedding day and really makes me want to squeeze my hubby.  Which I then get to do on the dance floor!  Whee!  And then on Sunday, we're headed a couple towns over to Indianapolis to see Sarah and celebrate my goddaughter's half-birthday!  So exciting.



2.



Last night I made two dinners.  I wanted salad, and the Coppertop Guy doesn't eat salads (yet).  So I baked him a frozen chicken breast, and sauteed some sliced potatoes, and blanched asparagus, and then for me: baby arugula and cherry tomato salad with a warm bacon dressing.  Deeeeeelicious.  And then we polished off the rest of the chocolate pudding pie.  It was awesome.

3.

Update on the garden: The plants have been in their containers less than a week, and we already have progress!  I spotted 7 or 8 tiny jalapeno buds, and blossoms on one tomato plant!  It made me so happy, I squealed.  MY BABIES ARE GROWING!  I am amazed by how little I know, and how much there is to learn about growing even the few that I'm attempting to grow right now.  Like, for instance, what is a good organic fertilizer?  (Answer for now: fish emulsion.  EW.  I'm trying to get over it.)  Another question: how the heck do you stake or cage a tomato plant?  And when do you need to do it?  They are just babies right now, but should I wait until they need stakes to put them in?  Or do I stake them early so that the vines can grow on the stakes?  I actually don't know the answers to any of these questions yet.  Anyone have ideas?

4.

I took a Pilates class on Tuesday night.  I've taken lots of different yoga classes, but never Pilates.  It's very different!  And my abs are still sore!  I also checked out a couple of workout DVDs from the public library: Skinny Bitch Boot Camp and Skinny Bitch Booty Bounce.  Omg.  Don't judge me.

5.

Tonight we're going to Slow Food Chicago's Sweet Summer Solstice Potluck Supper at the Chicago Honey Co-op!  There are so many things to be excited about, I can hardly contain myself.  The Chicago Honey Co-op is "an urban apiary dedicated to beekeeping training and sustainable agriculture."  As a person who someday hopes to call herself a beekeeper, I am really looking forward to seeing it!  A certain man who lives in my apartment is a little more apprehensive.  I was telling him all about it at lunch today.  Here's how the conversation went:

Him, dripping with sarcasm: "Oh, sure, that sounds like a great neighborhood.  I've heard a lot of good things about that area." 

Me: "It's a farm!  There's a farm there!"

Him: "No there's not!  There's an abandoned Sears warehouse filled with bees!  Why are you taking me to a horror movie?!"

*sigh*

Anyway, I'm making a rhubarb cobbler to take with us, and I'm looking forward to seeing some people I know, and to meeting some new friends!  And learning more about the bees!!!!  (I love bees.  Did you know that?)

5.

I'm a little tired of asparagus.  Am I even allowed to say that?  I feel like it was only a couple of weeks ago that I was whining, "When is the asparagus going to be here?"  And now I go to the market, expecting it to be gone, and it's still there, staring at me, like, "Well?  Are you really going to let me sit here?  If you don't eat me this week, you won't have good asparagus until next May.  Are you willing to wait that long?" 

I'm ready to say yes.  I'm asparagus-ed out.  Sorry.

6.

Rhubarb, on the other hand, I could keep eating until it came out of my ears.  AND!  They had cherries at the market yesterday!  WHAT?!  I was amazed.  Normally, you don't get Michigan cherries until the middle to end of July!  Sometimes for the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City (the Cherry Capital of the world, don't cha know), they have to ship in cherries from Washington!  Shhhhhhh.  Anyway, Michigan tart cherry pie is on the menu for next week.

7.

Many thanks to my awesome friend Meg the Grand for suggesting the charmingly retro disposable camera as a solution to my phone-only photo predicament.  You're the best! 

Have a great weekend, everyone!  And head over to Hallie's page for more Quick Takes!

The sweet perfume of strawberries and peonies

I had no idea what kind of a treat I was in for when I set off for the farmers market during lunch today.

First of all, the first stall I walked by had tomatoes!  My eyes popped out of my head, and I almost bought them, but then I felt a little distrustful.  Why are there already tomatoes?  That doesn't seem right... So I picked one up and smelled it; nothing.  No smell at all.  I'll pass until there are piles of tomatoes whose smell makes me swoon, thank you very much.

And then... be still my heart... I saw the strawberries.

Row upon row up bright red, juicy berries with perfume so strong I just stood there for a minute, soaking it in.  And then I bought 3 pints, drunk with fresh seasonal fruit happiness.  They're all ripe, and I need to use them up, but I think I'm up for the challenge.  I will probably eat one whole pint sitting at my desk this afternoon, although I'll have to be a little sneaky to pull that off.  Another pint will be dedicated to a dessert for my in-laws tomorrow night (get ready for a feast, guys!), and the other will probably go on top of pancakes or in muffins on Saturday morning. 

I feel like I've been waiting my whole life to eat these strawberries.  Well, at least a month.

Do you understand the difference between sad, out-of-season supermarket strawberries, and fresh, local, peak-of-season strawberries?  I mean really, do you?  They are so different that I can hardly believe they go by the same name.  I may write a sonnet about these Michigan strawberries.  I really may.

What else is in season right now, you ask?  WHAT ISN'T?!  I had been so frustrated by the absence of peas, and here I find out I was just too early!  Silly old freezing cold spring!  English peas and sugar snaps are here!  Sugar snaps that make you understand why they put the word "sugar" in the name.  Baby lettuce, onions, garlic.  Baby beets, lots of herbs.  Rhubarb, still.  I got two more bunches.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make it all the way to next spring, and I think this is the last of it.  I think I've got through 10 bunches of rhubarb.  I'm a little proud of that fact.  Asparagus, still.  Summer squash and zucchini! 

And peonies, which are my favorite flower.  I love all the shades of pink, the romantic mille-feuille petals, and the fragrance is out of this world.  I bought two bouquets for myself, and as I carried them around the market, I just kept sticking my nose deep within the blooms, and breathing, breathing, breathing... It felt decadent, euphoric, like floating. 

On a side note, did you know that the City of Chicago has planted some edibles in the big downtown planters in the Loop?  I saw it with my own eyes today!  Rainbow chard and tomatoes, smack dab in the middle of the city, instead of miles and miles of impatiens!  Wahoo!  Go Chicago!  Also, I am proud to say that I must be growing as a gardener, because I could identify the tomatoes without looking at the tag!  Go me!

I so wish that I could go home right now and play with all this produce.  But for now, I will be content to sit at my desk surrounded the sweet perfume of strawberries and peonies.

Rhubarb Week!

      

I am obsessed with rhubarb right now, and I decided to make it official. 

I hereby declare this to be the Coppertop Kitchen Official Week of Rhubarb!

For my whole life, I have been content to make one rhubarb crisp a year, sit down and eat the whole thing myself with a spoon, and wait until next spring to do it again.  This year, I decided to find out what else I might be able to do with this delicious seasonal vegetable/fruit!  Each day this week, I will devote my time here to sharing little-known-facts about rhubarb, and some recipes that don't (all) involve strawberries and/or pastry.

Did you know?

Rhubarb was first cultivated in China for medicinal purposes (it is a digestive aid, and can be a mild laxative), and was first grown for culinary purposes in Britain and America in the 18th century. 

Rhubarb Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake
adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2008

This recipe originally used cherries and balsamic vinegar instead of rhubarb and bourbon, but my version worked beautifully.  Also, I don't have an appropriately-sized and -shaped skillet, so I used a regular 9-inch cake pan. 

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided

1/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon bourbon 

3 cups chopped fresh rhubarb (4-5 stalks) 

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal (preferably stone-ground medium grind)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs, separated

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon bourbon

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Combine 1/4 cup butter with brown sugar and 1 tablespoon bourbon in 10- to 11-inch ovenproof skillet with 2-inch-high sides. Stir over medium heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to high; add rhubarb and bring to boil. Remove from heat.

Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup butter in large bowl. Add sugar; beat until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks, vanilla and 1 teaspoon bourbon. Add flour mixture alternately with milk in 2 additions each, beating just until blended and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat until whites are stiff but not dry. Using rubber spatula, fold 1/4 of whites into batter to lighten slightly. Fold in remaining whites in 3 additions (batter will be thick). Spoon batter over rhubarb in skillet, then spread evenly with offset spatula to cover rhubarb.

Bake cake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool in skillet on rack 5 minutes. Run spatula around edges of cake to loosen. Place large serving platter upside down atop skillet. Using pot holders or oven mitts, firmly hold platter and skillet together and invert. Leave skillet atop cake 5 minutes. Remove skillet. If necessary, rearrange any fruit that may have become dislodged. Let cake cool at least 45 minutes. Cut cake into wedges and serve slightly warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or bourbon-laced fresh whipped cream.

Market Day... and Moose Tracks Cookies.

Visited the Daley Plaza market again today, and picked up so much great stuff!  Pickles, orange blossom honey (the local bees went for a winter vacation in Florida), 3 more bunches of asparagus, some cheese, and most importantly...

RHUBARB!!!

I looked for it last week, but they had already sold out by the time I got there!  So I got two bunches this time.  And I will be searching high and low for different ways to use this delicious vegetable... fruit?

...(going to Wikipedia)...

"Rhubarb is usually considered to be a vegetable; however, in the United States, a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties."  What duties do fruits have, exactly?

Anyway...

The farmer who sold me the rhubarb told me that it freezes really well, and I told him thanks for the tip, but I'd rather stuff myself silly with something when it's in season (even if that's only 3 weeks a year), and then wait for it to come around again.  He looked at me with that look salespeople get when you talk to them more than they wanted you to, and I continued to the next stall to make someone else uncomfortable. 

Keep your eyes peeled for rhubarb-laden recipes in the coming days (and please share some if you've got good ones!), but in the meantime, you should probably make these!

Moose Tracks Cookies!

I came across this recipe yesterday as I was scanning my favorite blogs, and as soon as I read the words "pudding cookies," I knew I was a goner.  As far as I can tell, there are nearly limitless flavor combinations for these cookies, but the Coppertop Guy loves Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream, and I wanted to do something nice for him.  And I wanted not to have to eat all the cookies myself.  And I had bought this little container of mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups at Trader Joe's this weekend.

So the Moose Tracks cookies were born!  And they are goooooooooooood. 

Chocolate Moose Tracks Cookies

(about 40 cookies)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3.9-oz. package instant chocolate pudding mix

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 Tbsp. chocolate sauce (I used Hershey's Special Dark)

1 12-oz. container mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until fluffy again.  Add vanilla and pudding mix, and beat until combined.  Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda, and add to the butter and sugar mixture.  Mix well.  Drizzle in the chocolate sauce, and mix well again.  Gently stir in peanut butter cups.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, press down slightly to flatten, and bake 10-12 minutes.  Pour yourself a glass of milk.  Eat, baby.

Market Day: What's In Season

There are many reasons why spring in Chicago is the best.  One such reason is being able to take pictures of things like this:



Where natural and urban beauty meet.



I'm sorry, you probably couldn't tell exactly what is going on in the bottom left.  Here you go:



Goose Babies!!!



Another is the return of the daily neighborhood farmers' markets!  Today is my first market day of what I will call the Happy Season (from now until the end of October, when all the markets are closed save one), and what follows is my bounteous haul! 



Well, hello, market!  Long time, no see!





Home state shoutout!  Michigan asparagus all the way!



Love the live music!




From this gentleman, I bought jack cheese with Thai basil.




Green garlic and curly spinach from here!





Lunch! Ham and parmesan crepe with tomatoes!




Purple asparagus!




Local food treasure.



I had been hoping for some rhubarb, peas, maybe even (be still my heart) strawberries... but spring has not been very kind to us yet, and it's going to be a couple of weeks until we have that kind of variety.  Still, I am not complaining!  I've got asparagus in two colors, green garlic, curly spinach, and locally produced cheese, and that is a great place to start! 

Happy spring, all!