There are lots of activities going on this month. To start off, we have our first August class next Monday. The topic is Easy Meals (for those who hate to cook.) Our chef for the evening is award winning chef John Selick, also known as Boomer. He is a great chef and a great teacher. With a family of his own, he knows how to make dinner easy after a hard day at work. We will host the class at the Cleveland Hostel. Weather permitting, we will be on the rooftop overlooking the West Side Market and downtown Cleveland. Register for this cool class here: Register Now! Registration is also open for our Vitamix workshop. Whether you own this fantastic appliance or simply want one, come to this informative class on how to make whole meals from this one machine. More than just smoothies, we will make sauce, soups, nut butters and more! It will be in Solon at the newly opened Vitamix store. As always, when you buy a Vitamix using our exclusive code, you get free shipping and a credit on your Fresh Fork Market account to use for fresh produce to put in your machine. Vitamix Workshop Saturday, August 9th, look for us at the Cleveland Flea. We will be on hand grilling corn (fingers crossed) and selling our ceramics. Speaking of corn, we are supposed to have plenty of corn this week. We can't be sure, though, until it is really in our warehouse. Mid state rainstorms might mean we don't get all we need. Early week subscribers may have substitutions, but later in the week, we should be all stocked up. |
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Charloe
I was surprised to see folks so divided on the Charloe that we had in the bag. I think everyone at Fresh Fork Market is a fan of this cheese. It does have a strong odor, but to us, that is part of the appeal. We like the strong mushroomy rind, as well as the creamy textured interior. It may smell a little like the farm, but then I like that just fine. This rich cheese reminds me of cheeses that are imported from France, at a fraction of the price and made right here in Ohio! It also won an award from the American Cheese Society and 2 Good Food Awards. To top it off, this cheese is made from grass grazed cow's milk.
We bought in extra, but as this cheese is one that will continue to ripen, we are putting it on sale for $1 off to move it more quickly. Those of you who like it, this is the time to pick up an extra wedge. Order Now!
Another item that we have for you pet owners is our dog food. It is made from the leftovers from the same animal products that you have been buying. While you may not be a big fan of pork liver or sweetbreads, you dog probably is. We started this project when we got several requests for raw organ meat for customers' dogs. We talked with one of our butchers and he helped us to develop this product. It is made from pork, beef, lamb and poultry. It is a combination of trim, organ meat and bone, all ground together. No fillers or additives. You can feed it to your dogs raw or cooked. It is sold in a 2 pound tube.
Order now!
I also wanted to tell you about this movie that is playing in my neighborhood. It is called Seeds of Change. It is a documentary about the state of seeds in the world today. Just a hundred years ago, there were hundreds of varieties of nearly every vegetable on the market. Seeds were saved, cultivated, and cherished. Farms were praised for their particular varieties of corn, beans, beets, etc. Now they think that as much as 90% of these varieties are lost forever. Corporate farming has has nearly killed diversity in produce. This is why we work so hard to get our farmers to grow heirloom varieties of vegetables. Those heirloom tomatoes may look ugly but they taste awesome. Those purple carrots were tasty too, weren't they? Imagine a hundred varieties of beets or beans available at the local market.
Anyhow, they are playing this film for free, outside, at St. Helena's Church on West 65th just north of Lorain. Bring the kids, a blanket, and a picnic and have a fun evening on the grass. For more details, here is the Facebook page. Hosted by the Cleveland Seed Bank.
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Small Omnivore
1 package Italian sausage
6 ears sweet corn
1 bunch basil
3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
1 candy onion
1 pound tomatoes
1 cantaloupe
1 pint blueberries or blackberries
1 quarter peck Early Gold apples
Small Vegetarian
6 ears sweet corn
1 bunch basil
3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
1 candy onion
1 pound tomatoes
1 cantaloupe
1 pint blueberries or blackberries
1 quarter peck Early Gold apples
1 bunch beets
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Small Vegan
6 ears sweet corn
1 bunch basil
3 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
1 candy onion
1 pound tomatoes
1 cantaloupe
1 pint blueberries or blackberries
1 quarter peck Early Gold apples
1 bunch beets
1 bunch Swiss chard
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Large Omnivore
small omnivore plus: 1 jar Pope's Heirloom Tomato Sauce 2 pizza dough balls 1 piece mozzarella cheese
Large Vegetarian
small vegetarian plus:
1 jar Pope's Heirloom Tomato Sauce
2 pizza dough balls
1 piece mozzarella cheese
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4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) tofu
1/4 cup white soy sauce
2 very ripe 3-pound melons
Sea salt
Sherry vinegar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium white onion, halved, thinly sliced
1/4 cup lightly toasted almonds, pine nuts, or pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup almond oil, or sunflower oil
Fresh basil
White soy sauce, also known as white shoyu, is lighter in color and flavor than standard soy sauce. It can be purchased at Asian markets and from amazon.com.
PREPARATION
- Set a fine-mesh strainer over a small bowl. Press tofu through strainer into bowl. Stir in white soy sauce. Cover and chill. do ahead: Can be made 4 hours ahead. Keep chilled.
- Set a medium-mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Halve melons horizontally. Scrape seeds, strings, and juices from center of each melon half into strainer. Press lightly on mixture in strainer to release juices. Discard solids in strainer. Reserve juices.
- Using a small melon baller, scoop out 18 balls from 1 melon half. Place melon balls in a small bowl; season lightly with sea salt and vinegar and gently toss. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Drain; transfer to a small bowl and reserve.
- Meanwhile, cut rind from remaining 3 melon halves and cut flesh into 2 inch pieces. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent but not browned, about 10 minutes. Cut a parchment-paper round just large enough to cover surface of soup in pot. Add melon pieces with reserved juices to pot. Cover pot with parchment-paper round. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until melon is soft but not mushy and an instant-read thermometer inserted into melon reads 150�, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly.
- Working in batches, pur�e soup in a blender until smooth. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Strain soup. Season to taste with sea salt. Cover and chill, along with serving bowls, until cold, about 4 hours.
- Ladle soup into chilled bowls. Spoon 1 heaping tsp. of the tofu mixture into center. Top with a few toasted nuts or seeds and 3 melon balls. Drizzle oil over and garnish with fresh chopped basil.
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Ingredients
- 1 pound potatoes, scrubbed
- 5 medium ears of corn (about 3 pounds)
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
- 1 small onion, peeled and sliced thinly (about 1/2 to 3/4 cup) or several green onions diced
- 1 large bunch fresh basil, rinsed, dried, and leaves picked
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 large lemons, juiced (or about 1/4 apple cider or white wine vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- About 15 grinds freshly ground pepper
Directions
Place the potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to boil. Cook until just fork tender, about 15 minutes. Place them in a bowl of ice cold water to stop them from cooking.
Shuck the corn and break each ear in half. Cook in the same boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes until tender but not soft. Remove the cooled potatoes to a dish-cloth to drain. Immerse corn in the same ice bath until cool. Cut each potato into quarters and place in a large bowl.
Remove corn from water and also let drain. Use a chef's knife to cut the kernels off each ear. Add kernels to bowl. Add tomatoes, onion, and whole basil leaves. Add olive oil and lemon juice and toss gently to combine. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Adapted from Dave Lieberman's recipe on Food Network.com |
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Sweet Corn Mashed Potatoes
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- 1 1/2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup fresh corn kernels
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 3/4 pounds potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
PREPARATION
Heat oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion; saut� 5 minutes. Add corn and garlic; saut� until onion is golden and corn is tender, about 5 minutes longer. Add cream, butter and saffron. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain well. Transfer to large bowl. Mash until smooth. Stir in corn mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
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| Cantaloupe, Cucumber and Squash Salad |
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- Finely grated zest of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 3 yellow summer squashes (about 1 pound), unpeeled
- 1 cucumber (about 10 ounces), unpeeled
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unseasoned rice-wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 large cantaloupe, rind removed
DIRECTIONS- STEP 1
Make the dressing: Combine yogurt, lime zest and juice, salt, cumin, and pepper. Cover, and refrigerate 20 minutes.
- STEP 2
Make the salad: Using a vegetable peeler or a mandoline, shave squashes and cucumber into wide ribbons, stopping when you reach seeds. Toss with vinegar and salt. Cover, and refrigerate. Shave cantaloupe into ribbons, and refrigerate.
- STEP 3
Just before serving, drain cucumber and squash ribbons, and toss withcantaloupe. Drizzle with dressing.
adapted from Martha Stewart Living |
Ingredients:
1 large very ripe cantaloupe (about 4 pounds melon) 1 cup sugar Preparation:
In a small saucepan, bring sugar and 1 cup water to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until it thickens slightly, about10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
While sugar syrup cools, peel, seed, and cut melon into cubes.
Whirl melon in a blender or food processor until completely pureed. Do this in batches. Transfer each batch to a large bowl.
Add about half the sugar syrup to the pureed melon. Taste. It should be a bit sweeter than you want the final sorbet to taste. Add more sugar syrup, about a tablespoon at a time, to taste.
Cover and chill mixture at least an hour and up to overnight.
Freeze mixture in ice cream maker or pour into a metal baking pan and freeze, stirring every 30 to 60 minutes, until frozen.
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I bet everyone has had cantaloupe, so there is really not much need to highlight it. However, the first time I had farm fresh melons it changed how my opinion of them. This fruit is also high in vitamins C and A and has a healthy dose of potassium.
You want to eat your cantaloupe when you can smell their sweetness and the rind has a little give. I don't mean soft, by then it might be too late. Especially check the spot when the stem is. It should be slightly soft, but not so soft that your thumb goes into the fruit.
Cut your melon in half and scrape out the seeds. Then slice and remove the rind from each slice. Then serve or cut into pieces. Cantaloupe is great with salty meats and pairs well with cheese. It even makes great soups and smoothies.
Corn
Summer means corn. It is such a versatile vegetable. It can be prepared by boiling, grilling or roasting. Take it off the cob and it can be boiled, fried, sauteed, purees, creamed... the possibilities are endless. Enjoy this summer staple while you can!
However, not all sweet corn is created equally. Many of you who shop the farmers markets may have been seeing sweet corn for a few weeks now. Some of the farmers may advertise it as "Marietta" or "Rancine" sweet corn. Those are two big river towns where sweet corn is grown due to the sandy yet rich soils. I refuse to buy these products. Three reasons: 1) There is very very little organic sweet corn in Ohio. Corn needs more nitrogen than our soils offer. Therefore, fertilizer is used....and when used in the soils along the Ohio River, you can only guess where it goes. 2) I don't know the farmer....and it's too far of a distance from Cleveland. 3) It's usually a sugar enhanced variety. The last one probably sounds foreign to you. Sugar enhanced ? When farmers are picking out their seeds, they have a couple options. A sugar enhanced corn variety is one of them.The sugar enhanced is desirable to the farmer for two reasons - it's cheap and it grows fast. A sugar enhanced seed has been bred to create a seed that is high in starch. The starch is the fuel for the plant to get started. Seeds with high amounts of starch have higher energy. They may then sprout from colder soils and grow faster. To the farmer, the sugar enhanced seeds mean more corn faster - and at a lower price. Who wouldn't want that? Well there is a tradeoff. Sugar enhanced seeds have all their starch at the beginning of the plants life, not at the end. As consumers of the corn, we want the starch in the kernels of corn on the cob. That's where the flavor is. It also allows the product to taste better for longer. |
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