Best part of tonight's meal

Tonight, we supplemented our supper with delicious Tomato Italian Season Bread toasted, with Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese melted on top. It was so delicious that I had to post it on here, before I even tackled the dishes. The bread is from Cherilynne Churchill; the cheese from Jason Wiebe Dairy. Thankfully, both are available at Saturday's Clay Center Farmers Market. Unfortunately, it's 5 days until the next Saturday market.

On the bright side, Cherilynne and her baked goods will be at Wednesday's market at Dexter Park. Joining her will be a handful of vendors with a delicious assortment of fresh veggies, so come on down.

Master Gardener's Recipe: Gazpacho

We are lucky and grateful to have our area Master Gardeners attend every Clay Center Farmers Market, to share their knowledge, their plants, and their recipes. And, oh, the recipes!

This past week, Reva C. brought Gazpacho to the market to sample. I've never had gazpacho, but it was absolutely delicious. And, it uses all the veggies that are currently in season. It was so delicious, I had to share it here. Thanks, Reva!

Gazpacho

2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, peeled

1/2 medium onion
1 large cucumber, peeled
1 red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2 to 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin

Chop vegetables roughly, and this process in blender until liquified. Refrigerate overnight. Serve cold,  garnished with sour cream or chopped cucumbers and tomatoes.

Other variations I found add tabasco sauce or worchestershire sauce. Flavor it to match your family's preference.

July 4th Farmers Market and Patriotic Potato Salad

I hope everyone starts off the Fourth of July with a trip down to the Farmers Market. We will have the following, Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Red, White and Blue Potatoes, Cucumbers, Onions, Beets, Yellow, Light Green and Dark Green Zucchini, Round Zucchini, Crookneck Squash, Pattypan Squash, Papaya and Lemon Squash, Buffalo Meat, Eggs, Peppers, Fruit and Pepper Jams and Jellies, Breads and other baked goods and MUCH, MUCH more!

We hope to see you there!


Patriotic Potato Salad
Serves 4-6
Print recipe only here.

2 pounds total of russet, purple, and red-skinned potatoes
2 stalks celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar**
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons each fresh basil and parsley, thinly sliced
6-7 cranks of freshly ground black pepper
a generous sprinkling of salt, to taste

Scrub the potatoes well, rinse thoroughly, and pat dry. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Add to a medium size pan of water (with a couple of splashes of white vinegar, if desired). Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until potatoes are tender yet still firm to the touch, about 8-12 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, water, herbs, salt and pepper in a small bowl, and set aside.

Drain potatoes, and place in a large bowl. Add diced celery, and pour vinaigrette over the potatoes. Gently stir to avoid breaking the potatoes. Serve at room temperature or chilled. (Potato salad tastes better after it sits at least a few hours.)


Pictures and Recipes from: http://foodblogga.blogspot.com

Summer Squash Recipes and Ideas

Every year I hear the following comment, "What do you do with Zucchini or Summer Squash?" There are lots of different things you can do with summer squash. One of the quickest and easiest ways is to use the grill. Here is what you do.

Turn on your gas grill, charcoal will work too but the cooking times may differ. Wash and cut up your favorite kind of squash. I like to cut it into 1/4 inch slices. Any size will work, just try to keep them all about the same size. Take a large piece of foil and place your squash on the foil. Add 3-4 pats of butter or margaine. Add any spices you like, I prefer salt and pepper. Next add 1/4-1/2 cup of water. It differs on the amount of squash you use. Finally fold up the foil and seal it into a packet. Place the packet on the grill for 10-15 minutes. Take off grill, watch out for the steam, and enjoy.

Another way is Zucchini Lasagna.

Zucchini Lasagna
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 5 medium zucchini, (about 1 1/2 pounds) sliced lengthwise, 1/4-inch thick Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream*
1 cup grated mozzarella **
1 cup grated fontina
1/4 cup grated Romano
1 cup plain dried bread crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Coat the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with extra-virgin olive oil. Arrange zucchini slices on the bottom of the dish and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Evenly pour 1/3 cup of the heavy cream and sprinkle with 1/3 of a cup of mozzarella, 1/3 cup fontina and 2 tablespoons of the Romano. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the bread crumbs. Repeat layers, ending with the bread crumbs. Cut the 4 tablespoons of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and sprinkle over the top of the dish. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place the baking dish on top and bake for 40 minutes until bubbling and the top is golden brown.

*I substituted half and half and it turned out fine.
**I used a bag of the "mixed shredded Italian cheeses" instead.

Have fun with your Squash!

Grilling your Vegetables

One of the easiest ways to prepare vegetables during the summer is on the grill. At our house new potatoes or squash are always a hit in a foil packet. They are very simple to prepare and there is very little clean up. Here is how we make them.

Cut up your potatoes or squash in even sized pieces. I prefer a quarter inch or less slices of squash or potatoes. Place them on a piece of foil. Season to your liking, we add salt and pepper. Put in 2 tbsp of stick butter or margarine. Fold up foil into a packet. Add enough water to cover the bottom of your packet, probably less than a 1/4 of a cup and close it up. Put on the grill for 10-15 minutes. Open up and check the tenderness of the vegetables, be careful of the steam. Enjoy!

Squash Blossoms

In a recent episode of Iron Chef America on the Food Network, they had Battle Zucchini. It was neat to see all the uses for Squash. One of the things I though was really interesting was the Squash Blossoms. They were stuffed and fried. Since I have squash I thought we could give them a try.

WOW, they were really good. It was a little strange when we prepared them, but we were fighting over the last one. Even our young kids liked them. The recipe we used is below. We used an premade bagged batter instead of making it from scratch. It is your choice.

Enjoy!

Squash Blossoms

Ingredients

• 1 tb Olive oil
• 2 tb Small-diced red pepper
• 2 tb Small-diced zucchini
• 2 tb Small-diced red shiitake
• 2 tb Small-diced onions
• 1/2 c Ricotta cheese
• 1/4 c Grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Egg; beaten
• Salt; to taste
• Freshly-ground black pepper;
• 8 Squash blossoms
• Oil; for deep frying

=== TEMPURA BATTER ===

• 1 lb Flour -; (3 cups)
• 1/2 lb Cornstarch -; (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 tb Baking powder
• 1 tb Baking soda
• 1 ts Salt
• 2 Eggs; beaten
• 1 c Ice cubes
• 1 1/2 c Club soda; or less
• 1/4 c Flour; for dredging

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan, add the diced vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes. In a bowl, combine the vegetables, cheeses and egg. Adjust the seasonings. Set aside. Carefully clean the squash blossoms free of dirt and split the squash end in half lengthwise (not cutting it free from the blossom) to open it up for better cooking. Open the blossom end and divide the filling among the blossoms, closing the end back up after it has been stuffed. Prepare the coulis and tempura batter.

Tempura Batter: Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. With a whisk, work in the eggs, ice cubes and 1 cup of the club soda until you reach a thick, bubbly, pancake batter-like consistency. Heat the oil for deep frying. Carefully dredge the stuffed blossoms in 1/4 cup flour, shaking off the excess. Dip them individually into the batter, and into the fryer. Turn them gently as they fry. Fry until golden and hot in the middle, about 5 minutes. This recipe yields 2 entree portions or 4 appetizer portions.

Recipe Source: ESSENCE OF EMERIL with Emeril Lagasse From the TV FOOD NETWORK - (Show # EE-2175 broadcast 05-19-1997) Downloaded from their Web-Site - http://www.foodtv.com Formatted for MasterCook by Joe Comiskey, aka MR MAD - jpmd44a@prodigy.com ~or- MAD-SQUAD@prodigy.net 06-05-1997 Recipe by: Emeril Lagasse Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

Copied From: http://www.bigoven.com/126101-Stuffed-Squash-Blossoms-recipe.html