Monday, August 16, 2010

Where I Have Been and Two Recipes

As someone who considers himself a foodie, I love this time of year. Farmer's markets are opening and growers of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) are making their deliveries. I love to walk the markets and see what is in season. I personally like my produce to be organically grown and in some cases without the use of pesticides. I can get that from talking to the vendors and listening to them explain the methods they use. I use the markets to supplement my CSA share.

For those of you who do not know what a CSA is, let me explain. The CSA that I belong to states that each week from June through October that a full share will receive enough produce to feed a family of four for a week or a for two vegetarians for a week. The catch is that you do not get to choose what produce you want. You get what produce is in season each week. For example, last week's share consisted of radishes, lettuce, spring onions, strawberries, and assorted herbs. Next week's shipment may contain these items and/or something else. When the season passes and other produce comes into season then those items will be included into your share. It is like a new present each week.

Every Saturday that I am in Columbus, I go to the Columbus Farmers Market. It opens at 9:00 AM and closes at 12:30 PM. My typical routine is to walk the market before the opening horn to see what is being offered and how much of a quantity there is of the produce that I want for that week. When the horn sounds opening the market I then go to the stalls that I had scoped out and get the produce that I want. Then I walk the market to stalls that have items that I want more information about and sample their wares and sometimes buy their product. That is how i came across my new favorite vendor.

That vendor is Hudson's Market. This is husband and wife business that makes all of their baked goods from whole grains. The owners are Bart and Beth Hudson and they make all of their goods from their home kitchen in Scipio, IN. I recently purchased a loaf their cinnamon bread and it was such a delight. The smell of the bread is beyond description and I couldn't wait to try a piece. It was even better than the smell. My two teenagers, Dallin and Olivia, then consumed the rest of the loaf and wanted to know why I didn't buy two loaves! I can't wait to go back next week and try some more of their baked goods and I would love to interview the Hudson's for a future blog.

I have recently went on vacation to San Francisco and the Wine Country of Northern California with Connie. It was the vacation of a lifetime. We sampled the cuisine of San Francisco. I had a dish called Cioppino, which is a seafood stew, that I heard was a San Francisco creation. The cioppino that I had was so delicious and the portion size was enough to feed two people because I couldn't eat it all. The dish had claims, mussels, snapper, calamari, shrimp, dunginess crab and tomatoes braised in a fennel scented stew. We had it at restaurant called Cioppino's on Fisherman's Wharf. I f you are going to be San Francisco, I highly recommended it.

We visited quite a few of the wineries in the Sonoma and Napa Valleys and sampled many fabulous wines. The landscapes were so beautiful, but the highlight of the trip was my class at the Culinary Institute of America, located in Saint Helena, California. The institute is in a converted winery and it is so majestic. The class that we took was on Bistros and Brasseries. I had never cooked French style food and it was quite a change and I found it so enjoyable. There were 4 teams in our class and each team had to make 3 dishes. My team made Poached Pears in a Red Wine Port Sauce with Roquefort, Brussel Sprouts with Bacon, and Breaded Goat Cheese Salad. The other groups made a meal that was so delicious that I over ate when it was time to sample. There was steak with Green Peppercorn sauce, Duck a l'Orange, Frise Salad, Potato pancakes, Creme Brulee, and Chocolate Mousse made from scratch. If you have the time and money and wish to improve your cooking abilities, schedule a class at the Institute, you'll never regret it.

Now here are two of the recipes from my trip, I hope you enjoy these.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon (Choux de Cruelest aux Pardons)
1.5 pounds of Brussels sprouts
2 oz bacon
1 tsp olive oil
2 large shallots
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
Salt and Pepper to taste


1. Wash the sprouts and pull off any damaged or tough looking leaves. Wipe them dry then in half from bottom to the top and set aside
2. Cut the bacon into lardons and render them in olive oil.
3. Raise the heat to medium high and add shallots to the rendered bacon fat. When they're translucent, about 2 minutes, add sprouts to pan. Make sure most of the pieces spend time "face down" so they will brown. After about 3 minutes or when most of them have some color, remove the pan from the heat to add the wine and return it to the heat so the liquid can reduce to about 1/2 cup. Lower the heat to medium low, and then add the stock, salt and pepper
4. Cook the sprouts partially covered until they are tender about 20 to 25 minutes. To check for doneness, stick tip of paring knife into the core of one of the larger sprout halves; you should feel moderate resistance. To check for deliciousness, eat one. These sprouts are superb when served with roasts, steaks, and even whole-roasted fish.


Copping - San Francisco Style Seafood Stew
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 Turkish Bay Leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
1.5 teaspoons salt
0.5 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1.5 cups dry red wine
28 oz can whole plum tomatoes, drained, reserve juice, and chopped
1 cup bottled clam juice
1 cup chicken broth
1 pound crab, thawed if frozen.
18 small (2 inch) hard shelled clams, such as littlenecks, scrubbed
1 pound skinless red snapper or halibut fillets, cut into 1.5 inch squares
1 pound large shrimp (16 to 20 size), shelled (tails and bottom segments of shells left intact) and de veined
3/4 pound sea scallops, tough muscle removed from side of each if necessary
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil


1. Cook garlic, onions, bay leaf, oregano and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper in oil in an 8 qt heavy pot over medium heat, stirring until onions are softened, about 5 minutes
2. Stir in bell pepper and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
3. Add wine and boil until reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice, and broth and simmer, covered, 30 minutes, Season with salt and pepper
5. While stew is simmering, if using crab legs, hack crab leg through shell into 2 to 3 inch pieces with heavy knife.
6. Add crab pieces and clams to stew and simmer, covered, until clams just open, 5 to 10 minutes, checking every minute after 5 minutes and transferring open clams to a bowl (Discard any unopened clams after 10 minutes).
7. Lightly season fish fillets, shrimp, and scallops with salt and add to stew, then simmer, covered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes.
8. Discard bay leaf, then return clams to pot and gently stir in basil and parsley. Serve cioppino in large soup bowls.

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