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Farmers' Market Honeycrisps

I’d been seeing Honeycrisps at the farmer’s market, but felt this must be some sort of a joke. It was the third week of August, and suddenly the only apples worth eating were showing up. Were these really ready for eating? I mean the tomatoes are in full blossoms, so I’m a little confused here. Thankfully, my farmer put my fears to rest.

I hope you enjoy the detail and his knowledge about the variety/where it came from. It makes me smile that the university that hybridized it gets to reap royalties like they’re a ’70s pop band. Maybe like that band that wrote the song “Brandi, You’re a Find Girl”–it’ll always be a classic.

Here’s what my farmer said in his email today.

“We had just started to “spot” pick – HONEYCRISP!

“Quite the oversight, don’t you think?

“Our guys go out and pick the nicest Honeycrisp straight into the crates you see at market. Generally the fruit exposed to the most sunlight on the outermost edge of the trees are taken off first, similar to how any given peach variety is picked over the span of a week to two weeks, depending on weather and time of year.

Cornucopia Cometh

“The Honeycrisp almost didn’t make it as a commercially available tree, as the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experimental Station, which developed it in the early 60s, almost abandoned it. The University is now reaping great rewards in the form of royalties for every tree sold.

Thankfully they went ahead and patented the variety, a cross of Honeygold and Macoun, and soon found that they had a real winner.

“Its’ sweet-tart, distinctive flavor is backed up by one of the nicest and most unique textures of any apple out there; pay attention when you next bite down on a Honeycrisp and note the extremely juicy and crunchy mouthfeel; it is actually pretty unique in this respect and beside the great flavor is why the apple has become so popular.

“Some commercial growers pick Honeycrisp all in one or two goes; but we go out a couple more times spot picking to achieve the highest quality, a more expensive process, but worth the trouble. The last picking of a variety like Honeycrisp is called the “cleanup” picking and goes into a 25 bushel bin to subsequently be sorted for the higher quality apples, leaving the rest, small, bruised or undercolored, to go into our cider, which will be available in a week or two, once we have enough to make a good blend with a few other varieties, to achieve a pleasant balance.

“Honeycrisp is one of the most problematic varieties we grow as they bruise if you look at them too hard, and tend to form splits and other blemishes which look rough when on display; meaning there are a lot of seconds, to either be sold cheap as seconds, or put in the cider bin. A crate that has been on display at a market and then returns to be sorted for the next load is often too rough looking to make the next trip, as just being jostled by both customers and us is often more than they can stand up to, only Bartlett pears are more delicate.

“In addition to the Honeycrisp we have Twin Springs’ own patented variety, Daybreak Fuji, an early crisp and sweet eating apple, Red Cortland and Jonamac, both MacIntosh types, as noted last week, as well as Royal Gala and Elstar. I recommend trying samples at market to figure out your favorites.

“The Cortland and Jonamac are our favorite cooking apples at this time, with the Cortland being Twin Springs’ sauce apple. Our jars of sauce should be back at market in a couple of weeks as we must accumulate enough “2nds” to make a couple of batches. Try frying thick slices of Cortland or Jonamac in butter, until browned and caramelized, as a side dish, especially good at breakfast or with almost any pork recipe.”

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“
Oh the pie tasting continues here at ALunchBoxBlog throughout the summer. It’s been a summer of leisurely–read: many failed attempts at–blogging.

And then, suddenly, across my email today comes a post from Curvymamapies.com.

What a pleasure to read: the photos are terrific, the text rich with detail. I wanted you all to have a chance to read about the gigantic chocolate moose (not mousse), the 600 pound statue of a cow made in butter…ever wonder why Iowa matters? Well, wonder no longer.

Here’s a snippet: 

“I want to tell you about how amazing it was to be a pie judge at the Iowa state fair. I want to tell you about the dozens and dozens of pies that passed before my eyes (and my fork): the impressive and the terrible, the artful and the elementary, the impossibly delicious and the, um, not so delicious. But to really understand what it was like to be a pie judge, you have to first understand what it was like to walk through the most amazing, most iconic state fair in the country…”

Read all about it: just click here.

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Heirloom Tomato Heaven is Here!

Nothing makes me smile as much as summer tomatoes at discount prices. They’re invariably “seconds” or #2s as the email below says, but they make incredible Tomato Jam that I’ll share with you soon in another post. (A friend of mine calls Tomato Jam “Adult Ketchup!”)

At any rate, what is it about how local farmers are growing tomatoes better than homegrown? I think they have access to organic fertilizers that we just cannot get in Home Depot. I can only get fish emulsion and a kelp-based emulsion, but there just aren’t better products on the market. Is there anyone out there using a foolproof fertilizer that can make home grown toms taste as good as farmers market heirlooms?

If so, let me know!

Twin Springs Fruit Farm

From the farmers at Twin Springs Fruit Farm

FLAT OUT TOMATO TIME!
The biggest news is the wonderful tomato crop Arturo and the guys are picking, as it is the time of year when you can get the world’s nicest #2 tomatoes from Twin Springs to make into things like gazpacho, roasted or dried tomatoes, soup and sauce, as well as freeze and can for the winter. I sense that the old art of canning and freezing is making a bit of a come back, probably due to so many of you becoming very conscious of what you consume.

Many of my customers have stood there at the seconds display and said something like “these are nicer than most of the other vendors’ #1 tomatoes, what’s with that?” and at ½ the price; and when they get a sample of the same tomato at the “firsts” display they are just floored by how good they are. I should explain that these #2s, priced at only $1.49/pound, simply have a few cracks up at the shoulder or other minor defects which we choose to separate out to keep the #1 display looking terrific. At least 2 long term customers on Sunday said they gave up growing their own tomatoes as they just didn’t compare to ours (You can’t make this stuff up, no lie, even I was surprised to hear it). Must be Tom’s magic “JuJu” juice, secret foliar feed mix, as well as that Highfield Silt Loam fruit ground we are so fortunate to have.

We have a good enough supply to give an even better discount on the #1 beefsteak tomatoes, than the $1 a pound we dropped it a couple of weeks back. Our base price is now $2.99 per pound, but we are moving to the sale we often have at this time where if you purchase 5 or more tomatoes (Not pounds) we will charge you only $2.49 per pound. Half bushels of either #1 or #2 tomatoes may be purchased for $32.00 or $16.00 respectively, which makes #2s about 70¢ per pound and #1s about $1.40 per pound; for our quality I challenge you to beat that deal!

Twin Springs also has Heirloom tomatoes, both Cherokee Purple and German Slicers, as well as Romas. As we are picking lots of cherry tomatoes, both Sungold and Dasher, the price has dropped from $4.oo/½ pint to $4.oo/pint and $7.00/quart.

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Cacio e pepe

Guest blogger, Sebastian Puig, joins us again today to extend our summertime reverie (and concomitant break from blogging) with a pasta that should be in everyone’s arsenal.

Dear reader, read on, and happy summering.

My husband’s very favorite pasta sauce is also one of the world’s simplest. We both fell in love with this Roman specialty, a creamy twirl of fresh pasta, hot with crushed black pepper, during our time in residence at the American Academy in Rome, after a friend introduced us to the charms of the old Jewish Ghetto. There, on the Piazza delle Cinque Scuole, behind an unmarked door at number 30, is one of the smallest trattorias in the city, Sora Margherita.

You need to become a “member” of Sora Margherita because of local licensing, but this essentially means filling in a form. We were introduced in this loud and crowded little watering hole to the simple marvel that is pasta cacio e pepe. The cooks at Sora Margherita serve it over a delectable egg tonnarelli (a variation on long, flat fettucine), but any long pasta will do. The quality of the pasta is as important as the freshness of the few ingredients.

Our Eponymous Cheese and Said Cheesemonger

Epicurious.com calls the dish, “a simple standard by which cooks are measured, yet no two chefs agree on how to do it right.” They provide this recipe from Bon Appetit on their website.

This simple recipe can be made by anyone with access to a good cheese merchant. But locals insist that the “cacio” in the name refers not generically to “cheese” in Roman dialect, but specifically, to a cheese called caciocavallo. When this mild but special cheese is grated into the dish with either Pecorino or Grana Padano, it creates, with a few spoonfuls of the cooking water, a creamy emulsion that makes the sauce truly special.

Make sure to grind enough coarse black pepper over each serving plate to make it picante!

Ingredients
Kosher salt
6 oz. pasta (such as egg tagliolini, bucatini, or spaghetti)
3 T unsalted butter, cubed, divided
1 t freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 c finely grated Grana Padano or Parmesan
1/3 c finely grated Pecorino

Preparation
• Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5 quart pot. Season with salt.
• Add fresh pasta and cook, stirring occasionally—about 2 minutes before tender.
• Drain, reserving ¾ cup pasta cooking water.
• Separately, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.
• Add pepper and cook, swirling pan, until toasted for about 1 minute.
• Add ½ cup reserved pasta water to skillet and bring to a simmer.
• Add cooked pasta and remaining butter.
• Reduce heat to low and add Grana Padano, stirring and tossing with tongs until melted.
• Remove pan from heat; add Pecorino, stirring and tossing until cheese melts, sauce coats the pasta, and pasta is al dente. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Transfer pasta to warm bowls and serve.

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Rainier Cherry Bruschetta Fully Realized

Old cherries make great leftovers: who knew? But leftover what, for goodness sakes?

Rainier cherries make a terrific bruschetta topping–yeah, I wondered what the hell I was reading as well. I’d opened the door to the ‘fridge and saw desiccated cherries that had cost me $3.99 a pound, and thought, I can’t throw these out. Cherry flesh gets dry, but wow, like some crazy tofu fruit, they absorb flavor & burst with life easily with marinating.

I was full of pride as I tucked the results in the ‘fridge so I could reheat the next day. I’d walked into the kitchen this morning and told Curvymama so. She said you gotta photograph that and blog it. So, without further ado…

It turns out that I have been trapped in front of the television watching the Olympics trying to eat my way through the ‘fridge because I’m off to Montreal for a 40th birthday party. The Olympics completely shut me down for two weeks of incredible sport, and my eating tends to get elaborate, because between commercials, I begin reviewing every detail in my larder.

I had some old red spring onions, a little sharp and sticky garlic that was kicking with heat, Meyer lemons from my sister’s tree, and a little of the great American California-based Stonehouse Olive Oil. Well, the stunning result is this cornucopia of subtle flavor. None of the cherry sweetness came out. The purple basil and the other “Italian” flavors make the cherries more pliable.

Purple Basil has its Uses

Cherries are Bruschetta

Bruschetta

Drizzle the Mozz with Aged Balsamic

Yummmm

Rainier Cherry Bruschetta Fully Realized

Shine a Little Light on Old Cheeries

OK, yes, Pinot Gris Goes Nicely With Them

Up Close and Personal...Olympic Cherries

Your Appetizer is Served!

This recipe is definitely one of those, “Can you guess what this is made out of” dishes that will get everyone talking.

Cherry Bruschetta

Ingredients
Sliced (1/2″ thick) small baguette-style bread
1 T olive oil, divided
1 1/2 c pitted Northwest fresh sweet cherries, coarsely chopped
2 T finely chopped baby red spring onions
2 T Meyer Lemon juice
1 t grated Meyer Lemon peel
1 t garlic, minced
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/2 t finely ground salt
2 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese
1 T thinly sliced fresh purple basil

Instructions
Drizzle slices with olive oil. Toast one side of baguette slices in your bog-standard, home toaster over to the brown color you most prefer. Combine cherries, pepper, baby red spring onions, lemon juice and peel, salt, and remaining olive oil; mix well.

OK, yes, Pinot Gris Goes Nicely With Them

It will not matter that the mixture stays overnight in the ‘fridge. It will reheat beautifully the next evening. In fact, I’d argue that all the flavors combine nicely after a night of melding.

Enjoy this peculiar find with gusto!

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Zucchini Blossoms with Porcini

Summertime is in its full expression here in Washington as it is all across the northern hemisphere. And in the latest missives from our European Blogger Señor Sebastian Puig from Barcelona, revelations show that the season hasn’t been lost on him. He and his family have been busy eating their way through Umbria, Greece, and Barcelona, and Puig has his latest missive to share with us: River Nera mountain trout for lunch!

Talk about A Lunchbox Blog Post worthy of the revolution I’d hope to start!

The images he sent captured my imagination as I disappeared like so many of Pinochet’s enemies into daydreams as I sat at my office daydreaming about how wonderful it would be to be on holiday on a Mediterranean island with my daughter and husband.

At this point in today’s blog post, just below you’ll probably see a big empty white space. Refresh your browser (because WordPress has a hell of a time with embed codes, apparently! Sheesh!) and see Snr. Puig and his family dining in Greece at a trattoria that seems to be a seafood paradise. While this food doesn’t grab me, particularly, at moments 1:50 you can see his Pixie-haired angel Stassa leading table conversation like a champ and at 3:30 our guest blogger toasts you (I’m sure, wishing we could all be there with him and the clan)! As Noel Coward once said in his song “Mrs. Wentworth Brewster,” I believe, “Life is for the living!” 

Not surprisingly, Puig’s lunches are nonpareil affairs.

For those of you who have been as neck deep in the the New York Times Review of Books as I have, it may surprise no one that this trout post got me thinking about Ernest Hemingway. I’ve been entranced by trout since reading Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories as a very impressionable teen. I mean, really, one good read of the Nick Adams stories or The Sun Also Rises, and what boy wants to live in one place when you could catch and kill just about anywhere in the world? You’d never go hungry:

“Nick cleaned them, slitting them from the vent to the tip of the jaw. All the insides and the gills and tongue came out in piece. They were both males; long, grey-white strips of milt, smooth and clean… He washed the trout in the stream. When he held them back up in the water, they looked like live fish…’Good,’ he said, ‘They’re nice and fresh. I repacked them in ferns.’”

At any rate, Snr. Puig wrote me the other day with an outstanding proposition:

Grechetto in all its Glory

“Although we are on the Greek island as usual for the summer, I had a lecturing
gig in a charming little Italian hill town in Umbria last weekend, and I have
some food and wine observations to offer if you’re interested. The usual
fabulous pasta, plus, in the interior of central Italy, a menu based on the
fresh mountain trout that swims by in the River Nera.”

I thought I’d take him up on it.

And so without further ado, (and as you all know, I love my ado), Snr. Puig’s latest installment:

Sauteed Chicory with Mountain Trout

Waiter, There’s a Trout on my Plate!
Last week on a brief work trip to a small hill town in Umbria (Yes, I know how lucky I am!), friends suggested an excursion into the Valnerina–the green, green valley outside of Terni. Even in the broiling heat of mid-summer (100 degrees!), the heart of the Umbrian Appenines was lush and verdant.

One of the area’s best-known towns gave its name to the Italian sport of norcineria, or as one website defines it, “the noble and ancient art of processing pig meat.” But when Norcia was suggested as a destination, I reminded my hosts that I eat only as high up the food chain as seafood and fish, and that the much-exalted charms of prosciutto are lost on me. Thus, an alternative plan popped up: a stop in the small town of Schieggino, where I could sample the local trota di torrente.

In Schieggino, we stumbled into a restaurant whose menu is based not exclusively, but almost entirely, on the fresh mountain trout that swim by in the river Nera for which the Valenerina Valley is named. Osteria Baciafemmine was like a dream come true for a pescatarian. Its name means something like “Kiss the Ladies,” although after visiting its website I’m still not sure why.

I had a veggie first-course, a perfectly presented bowl of pasta al dente tossed with porcini mushrooms and fresh zucchini blossoms. The homemade spaghetti had a very funny name: mosso culo, which describes the movement of the buttocks of the chef who rolls the noodles out on a floured board in the kitchen. Quite an image!

Sheesh! Sylvan Meadows on Gossamer Wings

Looks Lovely, but Remember, it's 100 Degrees and No American Air Conditioning!

Valentino Valley

Life in an Umbrian Town

A Light From the Piazza?

La tavola è pronta, Sir!

Sauteed Chicory with Mountain Trout

An Affordable Euro Wine List? Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

Grechetto in all its Glory

Sebastian Puig in Umbria's River Nera

Zucchini Blossoms with Porcini

But my secondo nearly knocked me out. My trout, fresh as if it had just jumped through the window from the nearby Nera, arrived boned and covered with a salty sauce of local truffles. On the side, I ordered what turned out to be a man-sized portion of sautéed chicory, green, flavorful and with just a slightly bitter bite, cooked ever so slightly with lots of garlic and a green olive oil.

Sebastian Puig in Umbria's River Nera

All of it was served on hand-painted central Italian ceramics, was sold at a reasonable price, and was presented with a smile and that sense of proud ownership of the server who lovingly described and delivered each dish. Ah yes! And then there was the crisp white local wine: from Grechetto that was as fine and refreshing as any Orvieto classico I’ve ever tried.

The restaurant’s website has some recipes–yes, you carnivores–for meaty dishes!

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Thought-provoking, prescient video to share with you today:

So reading Andrew Sullivan today at the Daily Beast, it was completely unclear if he was supporting or opposing the proposition that local foodways are unsustainable. The farmboys in this video, probably tell us more about Andrew than it does about the issue. (Enjoy their freshly browned hot bods, btw)!

But it’s a sad statement that these particularly Kansas farmers are promoting the idea that local farming is unsustainable. Kansas specifically is living through a terrible heatwave for more, (see this story in HuffPo), that is killing off the cattle that are profiled in this video.  Drought is something that Kansas and the midwest generally seems to have a remarkably short memory of.  Isn’t Grapes of Wrath required reading in the midwest?   Oy vey.

Additionally, this month’s issue of Harper’s ran a truly compelling, frightening story about the looming collapse of Kansas agriculture discusses industrial farming’s massive push to suck even more water out of the Ogallala Aquifer. But it’s not giving much anymore. They are having a severe water shortage that the mild winters are not replenishing.

In the video, the farmboys sing, “Water. Water. Water. Water. Water. Water” to the tune of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It,” and the boys in the video seem to have no idea that this is both funny and alarming. There is very little water in Kansas, and Kansas cattle, in particular, are dying at an alarming rate this summer. So, in point of fact, it’s not “green” to grow food for millions in Kansas, as the story from Big Ag is suggesting. Is local the answer? I have no idea, but I can assure you Big Ag is not either.

So, giving into my alarmist tendencies, from all I’ve read, Kansas–and the midwest generally–sit on the edge a disturbing new dustbowl. For those who did read Steinbeck’s novel, the first dust bowl ran most intensely from 1934-1936. Note the farmboy’s t-shirt in the video; it innocently reads: “1928.”

Times are good for Kansas farmers…for now. You’re rolling in high grain prices now, boys. So save your winnings in this odd lottery. You’ll need the profits for the very grim times to come.

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Photo of My Bleeding Finger

It feels good to know that not only was I in good hands with my friends who forced me to go with them to the emergency room–because the bleeding didn’t stop for over three hours–but that even famous people sometimes have to be hospitalized for dinner-knife run-ins.

Miley Cyrus' Bloody Finger

A big thanks to JoJo and Alexi for the safe trip home. The good news is that it’s now July and my index finger on my left hand is back and functional.

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Chocolate Satin Finishes First

There is no justification for the comparison. Baked + Wired beats Georgetown Cupcake every time.

This place is a cross between college-town cool and high end cupcake shop. They make treats of all sorts, well beyond the quickly becoming lame cupcake trend. Their pure elegant style in the presentation of their sweets is incredible.

Unporked Elvis Banana and Peanut Butter Cupcake

In the Pastry Box

E E Cummings Poem Decor

Chocolate Satin Finishes First

I’ll confess, my office is about 1 block from Georgetown Cupcakes and their daily tweets make it almost impossible to be rational about my judgement call here. But there is a sameness to Georgetown Cupcakes that there isn’t to Baked + Wired. And I say that even though I can get a free cupcake from Georgetown Cupcakes, Monday through Friday at the office, if I just lift my fat ass off my chair and walk the block to the sugar and flour factory that is Georgetown Cupcakes.

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The Sign Above My Local Giant Supermarket

Great article in the Times about the author Peter Kaminsky shopping for items that advance his theory that you can eat well by focusing on healthy items that deliver maximum flavor.  Kaminsky has a new book driving folks to exercise portion control by eating only high-flavor foods including olives, cured meats, and other delicacies that normal folks would eschew during their diets.

Not that anyone asked my opinion, but the reason I’m so damned skinny (although when I drink I get a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig look in the abs area), is because I eat like Kaminsky now shops. Lots of high-flavor foods driven by vinegars, citrus, cured meats, herbs, spices, etc. They provide huge flavor and low-carbs/calories. I never thought about this. My diet just morphed as I got older. I would eat large portions of cheesey, crusty pizza and feel like hell afterwards. I’d consume enormous portions of white breads or rices or pastas which I’d grown up on and feel less than sated.

Cynthia and Proscuitto Butts

So I just started picking up the flavors that most appealed. I didn’t feel particularly in need of the entire bowl of Kellogg’s frosted flakes anymore. Powerfully flavor strawberries this spring have supplanted my Honeycrisp and Goldrush morning apples. Grainy, textured bread slices have replaced the blueberry muffin.

Dessert made of goat’s cheese and cognac’ed figs far surpasses any desire I once had for pumpkin pie. It’s an odd transition, but it’s one I made just by listening to my guts, not my growling stomach, but my insides. Oh, and my palette helped. Sugary cakes are a some-time treat, not a weekly need like they used to be.

The NYT article takes place more or less at Eataly, the “new” (opened in 2010) super emporium of Italian food in Manhattan.

“Eataly, an enormous and enormously crowded new Italian-food market and restaurant collection that opened recently off Madison Square Park: 50,000 square feet of restaurants and peninsular provisions, with a fishmonger and butcher (and vegetable butcher) and an espresso bar, a wine store, a cheese store, a cooking school, a kitchenware department and a great deal more.

It is giant and amazing, on its face, a circus maximus.”

Great advice from the Times about how to navigate the store:

Want to take the measure of Eataly without waiting in too many lines?

• Enter on Fifth Avenue and stop immediately at the Lavazza booth. Have an espresso to focus the mind.
• (Is it after dark? Have a grappa, too, for courage.)
• Forget about putting your name in for a table at a restaurant—get a baby-blue shopping basket and get to work. You’ll want dry pasta from Gragnano, near Naples. The paccheri — big tubes of durum wheat the color of gold — hold sauce well. Also, maybe prosciutto bread from the bakery and a few packets of pork sausages.
• Along the West 24th Street wall, you’ll see the Market area: sauces and condiments and oils. Get something to cover the pasta and the meat. (The Batali-brand cherry-tomato sauce isn’t bad.) Next: a ball of fresh mozzarella from the bar selling same on the far side of the room where everyone’s standing at tables with sliced sausages and wine.
• (Ignore them!) Go south toward West 23rd Street, to the vegetable butcher’s stand. Some basil will suffice, though you might see fruit for dessert if you haven’t already succumbed to caramel pralines from the chocolate station.
• Finally, cut across to the checkout, near housewares, for La Nostra Gazzosa lemon soda. Head home via the wine store next door: a nice dolcetto should match that pasta just fine.

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