The Houndstooth Gourmet

The skies opened opened up this weekend, and it’s still raining! Fortunately, it didn’t deter people from going to the markets. The Del Ray market held its full compliment of vendors including Three Way Farm, whose tables were repleat with strawberries, asparagus, rainbow chard and baby arugula. I bought a quart of strawberries, a large bunch of rainbow chard, and baby arugula.

Asparagus is still in season, and a farmer from Culpepper, VA had beautiful, thin-stalked bundles for $2 a bunch. And, I’m still digging spring onions which I found for $1.25 a bundle.

You know what I’m not digging? A $.50 hike in the price of a saltena at Marcela’s Bakery stand. Not that they aren’t worth it, because they are all that and then some. But, so far this season, there are no napkins, no forks and dammit, no firey green jalapeno sauce. What up with that?

A gentlman in front of me asked for the sauce and was told that they will have some next week. We’ll see. At least my saltenas were put in a plastic container. It came in handy right after my purchase, when a bucket of water rolled off the edge of the canopy onto my head and right down my neck!

On Sunday morning, Frank and I got to the Dupont market just before the bell rang. I wanted to be sure I could ge my favorite eggs from Keswick Creamery, along with a feta sampler-a terrific bargain at $5. Speaking of cheese, Everona Dairy debuted at the market. Everona produces artisinal sheep’s milk cheese from their dairy in Virginia’s Piedmont region, where the climate and terroir is perfect for cheese making.

Owner, Dr. Pat Elliott, was on hand to give out samples and answer questions. All of the cheeses looked beautiful, but alas, I had spent my lot and will have to wait until next week to purchase some Everona cheese to enjoy at home. I’m looking forward to filling you in on my purchase!

Surprisingly, Spring Valley Farm from W. VA had ramps, along with New Morning Farm, where I purchased a bunch for $3. It’s been interesting to see how the ramps grow (and become stronger in flavor and scent) larger over the month or so that they’ve been available. New Morning also had long, firm stalks of rhubarb which I purchased at $3.60 a pound. I’m going to combine the rhubarb with strawberries to make a dessert, and use the rest to make a compote which I will pair with pork loin.

So, I have lots of wonderful fruit and produce to work with this week. Stay tuned for recipes and photos!

Until the next At The Market, eat and buy local when you can, and enjoy the photos.

Tags: District of Columbia, Alexandria, farmers markets by Ramona
No Comments »

Whew! That’s a long name for a simple dish.

I promised myself that this week, I would work my way through all the produce I bought from the farmers market (am I the only one who is guilty of throwing away produce because it spoils before I get around to using it ??). J&W Valley View Farm (Westmoreland County, VA) had such gorgeous greens that I went a bit crazy buying at the Alexandria West End farmers market last Sunday! With a bunch of spinach, I made a salad topped with grilled chicken and spring onions, Gorgonzola cheese, strawberries and pecans. I grilled up 4 chicken breasts and saved two of them for the dish I made last night.

I used the remaining Gorgonzola and chicken breasts, sauteed J&W rainbow chard and made a simple white wine sauce which I tossed with fettuccine. Oh, and to gild the lily, I sprinkled some Pecorino cheese on top!

It was all soooo Robin Miller.

Still in my refrigerator is parsley, cilantro and bok choy. Any ideas HG readers??

Thanks!

Fettucine With Rainbow Chard And Grilled Chicken In A Gorgonzola And White Wine Sauce

 

Ingredients

• 1 box fettuccine, cooked according to package directions
• 2 chicken breasts, grilled and sliced thin
• 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (reserve a few crumbles to top dishes)
• 1 bunch Swiss chard
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place a pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add onions and garlic. Sautee for 3-4 minutes. Add chard and saute for 5 minutes, or until it wilts. Remove pan contents to a bowl.

Increase heat to high and add wine. Allow wine to reduce by half. Add chicken stock. With the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and flour, make a beurre manie*. Stir beurre manie into the liquid and bring to a boil. Add gorgonzola, chicken and vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large bowl, toss fettucine and chicken with Gorgonzola sauce. Sprinkle with reserved Gorgonzola crumbles and grated Parmesan or Pecorino prior to serving.

This recipe has been submitted to Presto Pasta Night. PPN is a fun weekly blog event sponsored by Ruth at Once Upon A Feast.

*A beurre manie is a dough, or paste made my mixing equal parts soft butter and flour. It can be used to thicken soups and sauces.

Tags: presto pasta night, cheese, pasta, chicken by Ramona
6 Comments »

Now that ramp season is nearing an end (did that go fast, or what?), I have been turning a culinary eye towards spring onions. Delicate, mild and even sweet, spring onions can be used raw in salads but perhaps shine best when they are grilled or roasted for caramelization.

Unlike fall/winter or “storage” onions, spring onions have a delicate skin and need no peeling. They also have a higher water content. Shaped like a green onion, or scallion, spring onions have a defined white or red-skinned bulb attached to a long green stalk-whick unlike the leek, is fully edible.

My current fascination with eating these lovely onions began with a recent meal at Taqueria Poblano. As a side to my usual L.A. style crispy tacos with adobo-seasoned pork, I ordered Cebollitas-charcoal-grilled baby onions. Frank looked at me like I had two heads when the dish was set on our table. After all, I could have ordered a side of refried beans-but I was feeling the onions and wanted a change of pace.

Amazing. The char and the sweetness of the cooked onions was amazing. I could have put whole onions in my mouth! No- I didn’t, but I wanted to! So since then, I have been eager to buy freshly picked spring onions from my local farmers markets.

Last Sunday, I purchased a beautiful bundle of red-tipped spring onions from J&W Valley View Farm in Wesmoreland County, VA at the Alexandria West End Farmers Market. I used them in two meals, and wanted to share the methods of cooking and using them with you all.

First, I made an Italian Sausage, Roasted Spring Onion and Fresh Mozzarella Pizza (head over to www.dcfoodies.com for the recipe!). While my pizza stone was heating in the oven at 475 degrees, I roasted some of the spring onions for 10 minutes on a roasting pan, dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. The result was excellent caramelization on the bottom of the bulbs. The green stalks cooked until some of them got crunchy and a bit charred. Actually, I covered the green stalks with foil after about 6 minutes to stop the browning, and you can decide how much you would like them to cook just by checking them while cooking, and covering them up if you like.

Last night, I made a terrific salad using fresh spinach from J&W, grilled chicken, Westmorland County, VA strawberries, Gorgonzola cheese, pecans and grilled spring onions.

While grilling chicken breasts on a cast iron grill, I plopped down a few spring onions and let them char and caramelize for a few minutes. They were terrific with their sweetness and a bit of bitterness from the char.

It’s spring. I’m in love.

Ah.

What are you fancying this time of year? Share in the comment section!

Tags: onions by Ramona
No Comments »

Sunday, the Alexandria West End Farmers Market opened for its second season. The market was started last year by market master, Julie Bryant. Bryant is the former owner of Cameron Perks. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Alexandria’s West End, Cameron Station is a large living community consisting of condos, townhomes and a few single homes. It is beautifully lined with trees and dotted with public sitting and gathering areas. Ben Brenman Park, in the back of the development, is home to the market on Saturday mornings, rain or shine, from 9-1, May-Oct.

I met Bryant at the market yesterday as she was checking in with the market vendors. She informed me that there are 26 vendors scheduled to be at the market this year, which is about a 30% increase over last year’s 15 vendors. She feels that the market has a nice variety of food and art, but would like to see more organic meats offered.

Fortunately, Sunday morning was glorious, if a bit windy. The market appeared to be about 75% full with vendors including juried artists, flowers, herbs, produce, eggs, pastries, cheese and canned goods. I saw several vendors from the Saturday markets in Alexandria City and Del Ray.

Tom the cheese guy was there. He is also at Del Ray. I picked up some Gorgonzola cheese to pair with some of the strawberries I purchased which came from Westmoreland County, VA.

J&W farm also had magnificent strawberries, along with fresh, vibrant greens. I picked up generous bundles of cilantro, parsely, bok choy, spinach, rainbow chard and spring onions. For under $12!

Tanya, of Tanya’s Soul Cakes had pretty pink-topped cupcakes for $1.75. Raspberry buttercream-topped vanilla and chocolate cupcakes were delicious.

Hilldale Farms had Fluvanna Farm Fresh brown eggs. I picked up a dozen pullet eggs, which are eggs from chickens just several months old. I was told that while they are on the small side, the yolk to whites ratio is better than in the larger eggs from older chickens. I’ll report back to  you when I start to crack them.

Fluvanna Farm will also have organic chickens in about two weeks. I hope they are reasonably prices because I would love to try one.

Until the next At The Market, eat and buy local when you can.

Tags: Alexandria, farmers markets by Ramona
4 Comments »