Passport Not Required: Part IV

Here are some photos from last week's Hyde Park Farmers' Market for you to enjoy while I am at the market today.

Goldie Hocks

Mom and Dad

 

Black raspberry macron from Taste of Belgium

 

I swear that I don't just go to the farmers' market to eat! Sometimes, I actually buy things to cook with, like fresh produce or bread. Last week, I procured a couple of beautiful little eggplants that are going to turn into curry later this afternoon. All I need first are some nice, ripe tomatoes...

Hey, Cincinnatians, have you heard? The Hyde Park Farmers' Market is moving to the square next Sunday, September 5th!

Passport Not Required: Part II

Bright and early Saturday morning, my parents and I ventured down to Over the Rhine to check out Findlay Market. I've been talking about taking my parents to the market for years, and I'm so glad we finally went!

See, Mom and Dad love a good market as much as I do. The first time I took them to Jungle Jim's, we spent not one, not two, but five hours there. It started innocently enough, mid-afternoon on a Saturday. We posed for a picture with the giant fiberglass banana outside. Then, we wandered up and down each aisle, including the regular ol' grocery aisles, at least once. We lost all sense of propriety with the cheese samples, and bought more ethnic and novelty food items than was probably wise. And we staggered out into the parking lot at 8 pm, feeling as if we'd run a marathon.

So, when we finally got around to making a trip to Findlay Market, I knew we were in for a good time.

We started with breakfast (dessert?) at Taste of Belgium.

Mom and Dad recently took a Mediterranean cruise. One morning, they disembarked in Cassis, France with strict instructions to be back on the ship by 11:00 am. All my Dad really wanted to do that morning was try an authentic French crepe, but none of the creperies in Cassis were open before my parents had to be back on the ship!

I also visited France just over a year ago, and I also left with an unrequited crepe craving.




Not to worry! I assured them. This may not be France, but it's Cincinnati, and Taste of Belgium makes some damn tasty crepes! Oh yeah, and then they have these waffles...

A word about the waffles. They're authentic Liege waffles, made from a thick yeast dough that looks a lot like sugar cookie dough. They're encrusted with a special Belgian beet sugar, which caramelizes in the waffle iron and lends a unique--and addictive--aroma, flavor, and crunch. Jean-Francois Flechet, owner of Taste of Belgium, grew up in Liege--it doesn't get any more authentic than that! And my parents and I were lucky enough to be served by Jean-Francois himself!

Mom and Dad put me in charge of ordering. I stepped up to the counter, thinking about how much Dad would love the Nutella-and-banana crepe. But when I looked into Jean-Francois' eyes, my mind went blank and a bold, adventuresome feeling overtook me. Lavender sugar, I heard myself say...

The lavender sugar crepe was a nice surprise. I was expecting a lavender-scented sugar, or perhaps a lavender-infused syrup. Wrong and wrong. The crepe was filled with a generous sprinkling of sugar and tiny, delicate, dried lavender buds. The lavender flavor was quite strong. If your only experience with lavender has been in the shower, prepare to have your world turned upside-down! The crepe wasn't the favorite of the day, but we were glad we tried it!

But the waffles? Oh, these waffles...they're like nothing I've ever had. They're like...a waffle and a sugar cookie got together, made a whole lot of love, and had these sweet, hot, doughy, chewy, caramelized-sugar bejeweled little rounds of joy. Pure ecstasy is what they are. Half a bite in, Mom pronounced them the most delicious thing she's ever eaten.

Then, we walked.

 

 

The market was in full swing, the streets teeming with people and the farmers' stands overflowing with breads, honey, jams, soaps, candles, and fresh produce.

We even bumped into a few people we knew--Joe and Lois Santangelo of Oakley Wines, a coworker, a friend from graduate school, a new acquaintance from Friday night's wine tasting. Even the guy from Bouchard's with the crooked hat who's always selling fresh pasta at the Hyde Park Farmers' Market on Sundays said hello.

It was wonderful to see so many people out supporting the local culture and economy, and to feel such a strong sense of community.

We were enjoying ourselves so much that we decided to stay for lunch!

After a couple more laps around the market to check out all the dining options, the aroma from Eckerlin's grill lured us in. Mom had a grilled chicken sandwich, and Dad and I had cheese-less burgers.

My undressed little burger tasted just as tempting as we'd all like to look naked. Nestled on a soft egg bun, the moist, fresh beef was adorned only with crisp iceberg lettuce, a slice of farm-fresh tomato, a little sweet onion, and a generous squeeze of brown mustard (because it's mustard, and I'm powerless to resist). I like my burgers medium-rare, and this one was well past that, but somehow still juicy without being overly fatty.

Dad and I also shared a Christian Moerlein Helles Lager. Because, well, I like beer. And if it's good and local and there's someone to share it with, so much the better.

Dojo Gelato provided the coup de grace.

From the top: Mom's Sea Salt Caramel and Vietnamese Coffee, Dad's Coconut Stracciatella and Orange Mango, and my Curra's Avocado and Orange Mango.






That's right. Avocado. With lime and cilantro. Delightful, it was!
 

So far, we've sipped wine from Argentina, Australia, Italy, and the USA, and we've sampled the cuisine of France, Belgium, and Italy...all without leaving Cincinnati. Stay tuned for Part III, in which we visit Hungary!

Blackberry Jam

A few weeks ago, I went to the Northside Farmers' Market and brought home some beautiful fresh blackberries. I love to cook, but most of the fresh fruit that I buy goes from hand to mouth far too quickly to be made into anything. No shame there--it's one of nature's best examples of how delicious simple can be! But visions of jewel-toned jars of homemade jam from the market were dancing in my head, and I decided that my blackberries were grown just to be turned into jam.

I had never tried to make jam, so I did a little Googling and found this recipe for blackberry jam at Savory Sweet Life. Like most of the other recipes I read, this one called for a 1:1 ratio of berries to sugar. Unlike most other recipes, this one didn't call for pectin, which I liked because I wanted to keep my jam as simple as possible.

I was also curious to see if I could reduce the amount of sugar in my jam while holding onto the yum factor. Since the berries were so sweet already, I reduced the amount of sugar in the original recipe by half, and I used just a touch of champagne vinegar in place of the lemon juice.

The jam was so simple to make, and really delicious! The vinegar added just the right amount of tang to counterbalance the sweetness. I enjoyed it so much that I also made a blueberry jam using the same recipe.

Here's the recipe with my changes: 

Basic Jam without Pectin
(makes about 1 cup, or 16 servings)

1 cup fresh berries
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons champagne or apple cider vinegar

1. Combine the berries and sugar in a small saucepan and heat until bubbling, stirring often and mashing berries with a spoon. (If you're using blueberries, you may wish to add just a touch of water.)
2. When sugar has dissolved, reduce heat and simmer until the jam is almost as thick as you like it. (It will thicken slightly as it cools.) Since we aren't using pectin, you may need to cook your jam for quite awhile if you like it thick!
3. Stir in vinegar to taste. 

 Enjoy!

Charge Me Up

My day job recommences at 6:30 AM tomorrow. I'll return with a mixture of hope and trepidation. Along with the inherent rewards of my profession, my daily work brings with it a lot of stress and anxiety. I expect that this year will be a wild ride, filled with work and change, growth and loss.

My main goal this year is to keep working toward a healthier balance. Work, with play. Self-improvement, with self-love. Dreams, with action. I don't want to feel like I'm fighting and pushing all the time. I'd be happy with a nice, healthy strive.

Today I took some time to breathe, be kind to myself, and charge up for the months ahead.

I said nice things to myself. (You should try it, too.)

I took my weekly walk to the Hyde Park Farmers' Market, where I bought heirloom tomatoes and apples (my first of the season!).

I also bought two great big cookies from Donna's Gourmet (to be shared with friends), and this beautiful and delicious cappuccino from La Terza.

On my way home, I stopped to sit in the square.

I listened to a woman play the piano.

















She played with her eyes closed, swaying to the music. At one point, after a flamboyant run, she threw back her head, smiled, and then bubbled over with laughter.

I asked her how long she'd been playing. She said, "Since I was nine." Did she play professionally? Another laugh, "Sometimes." Ah, maybe she has a day job, too.

Is that the key to happiness and balance? Finding the thing that makes you throw your head back and laugh, and running with it?

Shrimp Tacos with (Peach Tomato) Pico and Guacamole

Last time I was home visiting my parents, they took me to a little Mexican restaurant. I ordered the shrimp tacos, and they came--three of them--simply wrapped in tinfoil and served with fresh pico de gallo and guacamole. They were delicious, and I'm not sure why I was so surprised by that. After all, I love fish tacos. But the combination of chewy, doughy tortillas with sweet, succulent shrimp, all slathered in cool, creamy guacamole and fresh, piquant tomatoes and cilantro? Texture and flavor intersected, and mmmm! I enjoyed a few unexpected bites of heaven.

Ever since, I've been wondering if it would be possible to recreate those shrimp tacos at home, and the other night, the opportunity hit me over the head. At Sunday's farmers' market, I picked up some peach tomatoes (cool, right?) and I had been keeping them waiting for inspiration to strike. Meanwhile, half a package of corn tortillas, a bunch of scallions, and a ripe avocado were languishing in my kitchen, begging to be used. So I went to the store, picked up the shrimp, a lime, and a bunch of cilantro, and got to work.

Pico de Gallo

6 small (4 medium) tomatoes
1 clove garlic
2 small scallions, white and light green parts
1/4 c cilantro leaves
juice of 1 small (or 1/2 medium) lime
Kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Slice tomatoes in half, remove the core, and scoop out the seeds with a spoon (you don't need to be too careful; it's OK to have a few seeds!). Dice them into small pieces and put them in a medium bowl.
2. Press the garlic through a garlic press onto the tomatoes.
   
3. Thinly slice scallions.
   
4. Roughly chop cilantro (just run your knife through a few times; a few big pieces are OK).
5. Add the cilantro, scallions, and lime juice to the bowl.
   
6. Add a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper, and toss together.

Greener Guacamole

Why "greener"? I usually use red onion in my guac, but tonight I used scallions because that's what I had on hand. Scallions are also milder in flavor than red onion, so even if you're not an onion fan, I dare you to give this a try!

medium ripe avocado
juice of 1 small (or 1/2 medium) lime
1 clove garlic
1 small scallion, white and light green parts
2 T cilantro leaves
1/4 t cumin
dash cayenne
pinch Kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Scoop the avocado into a medium bowl. Add the lime juice and mash (a wire whisk works really well for this).
2. Press garlic through a garlic press into the bowl with the avocado and lime.
3. Thinly slice scallion.
4. Roughly chop cilantro.
5. Add scallion, cilantro, spices, salt, and pepper and whisk to combine.
   

Shrimp Tacos

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
Old Bay seasoning
Kosher salt and fresh pepper
6-8 corn tortillas

1. Heat olive oil in a pan. Press garlic through a garlic press into the oil.
   
2. Season the shrimp with Old Bay, salt, and pepper to taste.
3. Add shrimp to pan and cook, in batches, until done (about 2-3 minutes per side).
4. Serve on warm tortillas topped with guacamole and pico de gallo. Garnish with more cilantro if desired (I did; I love it!).

My tacos turned out pretty well! My shrimp ended up a little overcooked, which threw the texture off a little. My tortillas fell apart, too! Hmm...I wonder what I could've done to help them hold together better? Warm them in a pan in a little bit of oil? Drain the juice off of my pico? Or maybe just use good old flour tortillas! Any ideas?