I went a little crazy at the farmer's market today
I might have gone a little overboard at the Grand Army Plaza farmer's market today. I got two pints of blueberries, lots of tomatoes, yellow squash, some chard, baby red potatoes, shelled peas, a yellow pepper, kirby cukes, eggs, eggplant and three different kinds of basil: lemon, cinnamon and red rubin.
As soon as I got home, I made some bacon, tomato and basil sandwiches and scrambled eggs for lunch.
I really liked the combination of the lemon basil with the tomatoes and some Hellman's mayo, but I don't R* was so sure. I was excited to crack into the eggs, but I was disappointed that they didn't have the deep orange yolks like the farm fresh eggs we had in the UK.
What are my plans for the rest of it? I could use some help.
I'm going to take a second try at the grilled eggplant recipe from Wednesday's New York Times. I'd like to find a way to feature the fresh peas. Summer squash is my favorite summer vegetables, but I don't like it cooked with tomatoes and I haven't had much luck grilling it and I hope I can find ways to use all that basil before it wilts.
I'm going to make a blueberry pancake bundt cake, a salad of cold yellow beans and the orange pepper with a vinaigrette, and pasta and chard with ricotta. What else?
I thought the red rubin basil was beautiful, I loved the smell of the lemon basil and the guy at the stand said the cinnamon basil was amazing in pasta sauce. I couldn't decide which kind to get. I asked if I could get a pack with a little bit of all three kinds and the guy agreed. I'm wondering if I could come up with a drink or a dessert for the lemon basil and the blueberries?
posted by Chris at 4:41 PM
8 Comments:
that sandwich looks really good...
Maybe it would be a waste to mix these three basils together, but pesto is always an excellent way to use up basil (and a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers is really nice as a side dish with pasta in pesto sauce). i've never had cinnamon basil. does it really taste like cinnamon?
shelled peas seem so extravagant! i'm used to having to shell them myself (with no help from the bf, who has no patience for that kind of thing). if they're super fresh, you really can't do much better that steaming them in 1/4 cup of water or so, until they're very, very bright green (about 30 seconds). drain them, throw in 1/2 Tbsp or so of butter, and add salt and pepper to taste. or puree them with a little bit of cream for a very intense and summery soup.
i like summer squash sliced into rounds and steamed for about 3 minutes, finished with a little bit of olive oil and salt & pepper. sauteed with garlic is good too. i always lose too much of it on the grill, and since moving to manhattan, i can't grill anyway.
maybe blueberry ice cream with a little bit of lemon basil would be a good idea?
Oh, hey, we must be neighbors. That's my local farmer's market. Though today, we checked out the new Real Food market on Lafayette instead (sadly, there wasn't much there).
Danielle,
I live in Prospect Heights, near Tom's Diner. Are close-by? Let me know if the new Real Food farmer's market improves.
Mr S.,
Who are you . . . do you have your own site? thanks for all the detailed advice. I steamed the summer squash last night and added a little butter. Honestly, it was a revelation. Why did I always cook it in a frying pan before and watch the squash fall apart? Here's to a long summer of steamed squash and I hope you can get some help with the peas.
A type of lemon basil is used in all sorts of Thai seafood dishes, you might see how you like your lemon basil with seafood.
hey,
i'm a type designer by day, home cook by night. i don't have a blog or anything... i'm not much of a writer.
anyway, i guess my frustration with my broken oven is manifesting itself in overly long comments to people's blogs... i'm glad you liked the steamed squash.
Anon . . . I bought some shrimp at Wild Edibles. I made a fresh tomato sauce, cooked the shrimp for a few minutes in the sauce and then sprikled with the lemon basil, served on a bed of quinoa. Sadly . . . the lemon basil was overpowered a bit by the tomato. I also think I didn't use quite enough of it. Lemon basil is more delicate than I had expected . . . good to know for the future.
And Mr. S, sorry you're steamed about your broken oven. Our new dishwasher is broken and it's freaking me out.
R* and I suffered a disgusting oven and electric stove for a long time. Maybe I should post about the day the oven caught fire. That's what sparked me to create our new kitchen. A type designer who cooks, sounds like an interesting guy. Martha's new magazine Blueprint is a riff on cooking with a lot of attention to type design, I thought. Since you don't have your own blog, I'd be honored if you'd put up a guest post here sometime. Let me know.
those blueberries look awesome and I love the pretty blue box they come in!
I'm flattered by your invitation to do a guest post. Maybe I'll write something about my current obsession, making pesto. I'll email you.
Wish me luck baking Blueberry cobbler in the toaster oven tonight...
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