Franken-Apples?

These small, tart green apples are called Lodi and have shown up at the market this season for the first time. They are prized mostly because they are the first apple of the season. I like how tart they are, they make a great cooking apple in the same vein as Granny Smith and I enjoy eating them, but if you aren't into sour you would find them a challenge.

So anyway, the other day I was talking to a farmer and we struck up a conversation about these apples with me commenting on how I'd never seen them before. He launched into a discussion about how they are genetically modified. My jaw fell open and I stuttered something about how I thought apple breed were developed by grafting or by cross pollination. I had never heard of a GMO apple and seeing as how I already had purchased several pounds of Lodi's I was flummoxed as to what I was going to do with them, given I don't buy or support the genetic modification of food plants.

When I got home I tried to take some scary pictures of these apples and write a post about the insidious Monsanto and the evils of GMO's. However what happened after the apple photo shoot was a pleasant surprise, my first on line search lead me to a European website called GMO-compass it talks about all the blights apples attract and says:

several institutes, including institutes in Europe, are working on developing new possibilities for plant defense using genetic engineering

Mmmmmmm I think and continue reading....

Very few of these projects have been tested in the field. Most are still at the laboratory or greenhouse stage. If these genetic engineering approaches actually prove to be effective and the derived fruit prove to be healthy and safe, a large amount of fungicides and other spraying could potentially be avoided.

Yeah right, how about crop diversification? How about dealing with the issue of how growing fruit in mono cultures doesn't work?

Grumble, grumble, grumble...steam coming out of my ears....but then!

As of yet, no genetically modified apples have been approved anywhere in the world.

I look at the top of the page and see the date July 22 2010 and think the farmer is just mistaken, but then I notice at the bottom of the page that this article was written in 2006.

So I keep looking and am reassured by CopperWiki which states:

Apples -- Genetically modified apples have so far not been approved anywhere in the world. Though approval is not likely in the next few years, GM apple field tests will continue increasing. Several field trials are under way in the US and the EU. Insect resistant transgenic apples with delayed softening and longer shelf life are being developed in the US. Such apples can be ripened on the tree. Currently apple growers face different types of diseases connected with the fruit. These include fire blight, apple scab, and powdery mildew. Fire blight, which is highly contagious, along with fungal diseases like apple scab and powdery mildew, has been causing significant losses in recent years.

So OK it is still safe to go into the orchard! Or at the very least into the apple sellers stall at the Green Market and try out these new, tasty, tart first of the season apples.

Wednesday Supper: Ca Kho Tieu Mahi Mahi and Apple Tart

No matter what kind of pastry you use there are two basic rules that really pay off. Use butter, always use butter being sure to leave chunks of it in the dough so it will melt when baked and leave you with a sinfully flaky buttery crust. Secondly always chill your dough, I've even read fruit pic recipes where you place the uncooked fruit in uncooked pie shell and freeze it for an hour then put it directly into the oven. These two things will guarantee you a crust. Pie dough or pate brisee recipes are all more or less the same some use an egg yolk so use sugar some use more ice water. Find one you like and works for you and stick with it.

Increasingly I don' think if you are making a fruit pie you need to add sugar to the crust. The recipe below I got from my new favorite cook book A Platter of Figs by David Tanis who is the head Chef six months of the year at Chez Panisse. For whatever reason all roads lead to Chez Panise for me. I love their honest simple approach to food with an emphasis on fresh seasonal local ingredients.

The entire tart recipe is from his book, I've already used the pastry recipe to make pear mincemeat tartlets and the results were super. It has just become my favorite all purpose pastry dough.

Apple Tart
(adapted from David Tanis's book A Platter of Figs)

In a mixing bowl add 2 cups of all purpose flower (Kind Arthur is my favorite) 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, with your hands mix until the flour is incorporated, but there are still chunks of butter. The instruction in the book is to cut the butter into thin slices, I find by just using the stick of butter whole and breaking it down as I go I end up with a better chance of still having chunks of butter in the dough at the end (which is the goal) the thinly sliced butter melts and incorporates easier and leaves you with a more consistent (which in this case is not the point) dough. Up to you.

In a measuring cup add one large egg and fill with ice cold water until the total amount is 1/2 cup, stir into the dough and mix until you have a roughly formed sticky ball. Do this quickly - don't over process it. Sprinkle with a little extra flour and form into a rectangle (this will be enough for two tarts) wrap and place in the fridge (I use parchment) for an hour or more or even over night.

Divide the pastry in half and roll out one piece on a sheet of parchment (using a sprinkling of flour to prevent sticking to the rolling pin). The idea is to make a rectangle that will fit just inside a standard cookie sheet ( 15 1/2 x 10 1/2) mine tend towards the smaller side I'd say 13 x 8 ish. I tuck under the ends to make it more uniform, but think that a "free form" look to a tart like this is just fine. When you are happy with the way your dough rectangle looks cover it with another sheet of parchment and put it back in the fridge.

In a pot add 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water, add to this the cores and peel of all 5-6 apples you are about to peel and core. Then bring it to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook for a good 15 minutes until it has thickened, strain and reserve.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Slice the apples thinly, take the dough out of the fridge and stack the apples in overlapping rows like cards onto the pastry (see pictures). Sprinkle with 2 T of sugar.

Place the into the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove from the freezer and place in the bottom third of the oven for about 45 minutes, turning once at the half way point. Cooking pastry on a pizza stone is a great way to prevent soggy bottomed fruit pies! Remove from the oven when the apples and pastry have browned. Brush the glaze over the the entire pastry. I usually end up with extra. Serve warm or at room temperature with some unsweetened whip cream.

A few days ago I did a post about chocolate mousse (which I just updated today) and several readers commented on the dragonfly ware as I like to call it and Skip and Chris even gave a link to a Vietnamese Food Blog which featured a recipe for Ca Kho To (or Tieu as it is also sometimes written, transliteration from Vietnamese to English is a tricky thing).

Funny thing about the dragonfly ware is that I used to sell it when I owned my SE Asian housewares stores, I even went to the factory outside of Hanoi in this really amazing town they has been making pottery for 500 years, everywhere you look there is a huge kiln! I made sure to put aside a set for us before I sold it all. In the end when I closed my store I ended up with a bunch of odds and ends which is how I ended up discovering that covered sugar bowls are also great individual serving dishes for chocolate mousse!

The Vietnamese fish dish sounded so good I wanted to try it! Also it was a great opportunity to use the dishes. After reading several recipes I made several modifications in order to minimize the use of packaged goods and to make it a little but more western friendly

Ca Kho Tieu

A traditional slow cooked fish dish with a peppery sweet sauce that usually incorporates a fish cut on the diagonal (think Salmon Steak) with the skin and bone still in tact. Cooked on top of the stove in a clay pot.

For my version I recommend using a cast iron skillet and a thick cut, boneless, skinless Mahi Mahi (wild caught) which is an oily, fairly sustainable and at this moment reasonably price fish (It was $9 a pound).

I had some questions about the amounts used in the recipe that was my inspiration for this dish from the Ravenous Couple Blog

In particular as I was entertaining someone who was pepper/spice sensitive I felt 1 Tablespoon of black pepper was a lot especially for just 1 pound of fish. So I reduced it to 2-3 teaspoon for 2 pounds of fish, extra can always be added by the individual diner.

In a pot combine 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup palm sugar (or brown sugar) bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer, cook for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken (when a drop is placed in cold water it should form a soft ball). Stirring occasionally. Once thick take off the heat

While this is cooking roughly chop: 4 garlic cloves, 2 large shallots (about 1/3 cup) the rind of one lemon (yellow part only avoid as much of the pith as possible) and 1 Tablespoon of grated fresh ginger, place in a bowl and add 1/2 cup of fish sauce add all of this to the thickened sugar syrup, stir to mix and set aside.

Rinse 2 lbs of boneless, skinless, Mahi Mahi (or what ever fish you are using) under cold water and pat dry, cut it into large portions and place it in a large dish, rub 2-3 teaspoons of freshly grated black pepper over the fillet then coat them with 4 Tablespoons of organic peanut oil.

Trim and clean 6-8 scallions (spring onions) chop on the bias into 1" pieces, reserve a handful for garnish.

Heat your dry skillet over high heat, when a drop of water sizzles and evaporates your ready to add the fish fillets. Sear each side for 1-2 minutes then quickly add the fish sauce mixture, let it boil up then turn the heat down to medium and add the scallions. Stir to incorporate and simmer for about 20 minutes, if the sauce threatens to get too thick add a little more water.

The fish should be tender but not falling apart. Serve with rice and a simple steamed green like Shanghai Bok Choy. Super Yummy! The menu this Wednesday was the Vietnamese Mahi Mahi, Brown Basmati Rice Steamed Shanghai Bok Choy with the apple tart with shipped cream for dessert.

Black pepper, finely chopped de-seeded fresh Thai pepper and fish sauce can all be served as condiments.

I wanted to do a product shot, but got carried a way a little bit as there is no soy sauce in the recipe!

Please note that the picture above was taken mid dinner party so I had forgotten to garnish with reserved scallion (I had actually forgotten to reserve the scallion) and I did not reduce the water/sugar mixture so the dish as it appears here is more saucy then my recipe would suggest. It was however, delicious and the sauce was delicious with the rice and bok choy. The goal is have the liquids of the dish reduce down to make more of a thick sauce/glaze, but lets face it anywhere on the continuum is fine as it all tastes great and ultimately comes down to personal taste and aesthetics.

Apples Dressed Up

By simply changing the form of an apple pie you can also change the way it is perceived when it is brought to the table.  This classy rectangle of pastry and apples looks so much more dressed up than a pie.  Not really sure why that it, maybe it's the the fluted edges I trimmed with my ravioli cutter, or the sheen from the glaze that is made using the skin and cores of the apples. I particularly like this trick as it makes use of something that you would typically just discard.  Use tart green apples like Crispin or Granny Smith.

Apple Tart

Make a basic pie dough - I used my galette dough adding 2 Tablespoons of sugar (from the 1/2 teaspoon called for in the original recipe).

Preheat the oven to 375 F

After the dough has been chilled at least for 30 minutes or as much as over night.  Split it in half, reserving one half for another use and rolling the other half out into a large rectangle on a sheet of parchment paper (I use a cookie sheet as my guide and make it so that the pastry will fit inside the sheet easily).  Don't get too stressed about the edges, use a knife or a fluted ravioli roller or what ever you want to trim the edges and even the whole affair out.) Once you have it trimmed just pick up the ends of the parchment paper and place on the cookie sheet.  Put it in the freezer.

Peel , core and slice 4-5 tart apples, placing the cores and peel in a heavy bottomed saucepan.

Add 1 cup or water and 1 cup of sugar to the pan and bring to a simmer, cook until thickened - remove from heat strain through a fine sieve discarding the solids and place the syrup back into the pan.  You may need to reheat it to thin it when the time comes to brush it on the tart.

Slice the apples thinly so that can be fanned out onto the chilled dough.

Sprinkle about 1/3 cup of sugar over the apples and place in the oven. Bake for about 35-45 minutes, the pastry should be browned and the apples soft.

Remove from oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes.  With a pastry brush spread the glaze evenly over the apples.  Serve with unsweetened whip cream, or add a splash of Calvados.  I served my with Calvados Ice Cream I had made for another reason.  Calvados Ice Cream is just basic Vanilla with 2 Tablespoons of Calvados instead of adding any Vanilla Extract (I did use 1 Vanilla bean).

A simple, delicious, seasonal sweet that is a nice variation on the traditional apple pie.

A Perfect Day to Stay Home and Cook

The view from our window today and below the arty version

I'm feeling Indian Lentil Stew and a pie, maybe something with frozen cranberries or blueberries. One of my favorite things to make when I had just gotten out of university was a sour cream cranberry crumble tart.

I was so excited when I discovered tart pans with the fluted edges and removable bottoms, so much more sophisticated than a pie dish and in my twenties it was all about presentation, I'd just graduated from theater school so I suppose I can be given some dispensation for wanting to make every plate of food I made a theatrical event.

Then there are apples, I love this simple apple tart I've been making lately and if you are going out anyway you should try and make a point of going to the market and buying something from a farmer, their day started at 4 or earlier and they've been standing in this since. It's days like this I'm so aware of how hard it is to be a farmer and how appreciative I am of them for their labors.

Of course if all of this sounds too ambitious for you I hardily recommend a nap, really the perfect response to weather like this.

Apple Season

Last year I pretty much succeed in not eating any fruit other than local apples (I think I broke down and had some in season in Florida organic pink Grapefruit in February - maybe 2) all winter long and I am going to try and repeat myself this year.

It actually wasn't a problem for me, I like apples and the thought of eating a sub par out of season Cantaloupe from Chile or some overpriced raspberries from New Zealand somehow never crossed my mind.

A couple of weeks ago the Sunday New York Times Magazine did an exhaustive article on this study being done on reduced calorie diets. The thing that caught my eye (well initially Neil's as he was the one who sent me the article) was how apples apparently are a particularly satisfying snack:

By building a diet around foods with a low-energy density, especially vegetables, fruits and soups, participants can conceivably ingest the same weight of food as they might on a regular diet while taking in fewer calories.Apples are superb in this regard. At the medical centers running Calerie, you see a lot of people walking around eating apples. Even subjects who disliked apples have discovered that calorie restriction, which generally has the effect of making food taste better, has given them a surprising desire for the fruit.

Then today I see on Treehugger that Australian scientists have come up with an apple that takes a long time to rot, er, or as they would rather spin it, stays fresher longer (sounds like the tag line for a room deodorizer) 4 months to be exact. It's no surprise I agree with the conclusion the author of the article Colin Dunn comes to:

Food is supposed to rot, and while way too much food is wasted around the world, the solution is not to engineer perishables to last longer; the solution is to create stronger local food systems that emphasize sustainable production and seasonal cycles. So, with all due respect to the RS103-130, we'll be sticking with the good old-fashioned Macintosh, Fuji, and other nature-designed apples. Meanwhile, the Queensland government is seeking a commercial supply partner to distribute the fruit and hopes to begin selling it next year.

This past spring a farmer told me not to buy a Macintosh because they are a softer apple and don't winter as well as say the Mutsu, the best time to eat Macintosh is now. They also make kick ass apple sauce because they melt down so well when cooked and have a wonderful sweet tart balance (try using maple syrup to sweeten your sauce,it tastes great and if you live in NYC it's a local product).

So go out and get yourself some apples, the selection available at the green market is vast - enough to keep you busy all winter long!

Menus

December 23rd
Dinner with Chris and Draper, Jorge and Michael

Walsh rarebit
with house made Icelandic Seed Bread, roasted potatoes,
local heritage apple slices, assorted chutneys

Local Onion Custard Tart

Cabbage Salad
with currents and walnuts

Cranberry Upside Down Cake
with whipped cream



December 24th
Dinner with Sarah, Rebbecca and Natan Theise & Craig

House-made Latkes
with wild caught Pacific Salmon, Cream cheese and
home made apple sauce

Organic Local Greens
Grain mustard vinaigrette

Traditional Lasagna
with home made whole wheat pasta, mozzarella and ricotta
and tomatoes sauce with Thyme and Rosemary

Boozy Chocolate Cake
(with lots of ground almonds and hazelnuts)
and a big dollop of unsweetened whipped cream



December 25th

A selection of artisanal cheeses from Saxelby Cheese Mongers
Sour Dough walnut cranberry bread, selection of chutneys

Chanterelle Risotto

Organic Local Greens
Grain mustard vinaigrette

Pear Mincemeat Tart
Cranberry Upside Down Cake*
with whipped cream

*my new favorite winter dessert.

Strawberries Are Here

On Wednesday at the Union Square market at the Kernan Farmer stand I saw what I have been waiting for all these long cold months (while chewing on my apple) the first Strawberries this season. I asked the farmer how it was he was so a head of the pack with his strawberries and he said it was all about how much further south his farm was compared to upstate New York (he's in south Jersey).

A quart was $7 and worth every penny. The berries were on the big side, full of flavor some sweeter others are more tart. Immediately I walked over to Neil's place of work and had him join me downstairs for a taste.

Last Saturday I had asked the gal at Berried Treasures farms from Delaware County, NY, how long it would be before she had her berries, she told me a month. She has the reputation of having the sweetest, best berries in the market. They are pretty damn good and tend to be smaller then most.

My favorite strawberries dessert is something called Eton Mess, it's really easy and not something you see very often at restaurants. Years ago when I lived in Toronto and had just finished university I worked at the fanciest restaurant in town, if not the entire country called Fentons, it was there I discovered Eton Mess a boozy sweet tart creamy pile of heaven.

People have their own ideas about this dessert , it's simple to make, this version is the Proustian memory of what I remember Eton Mess tasted like at Fentons. Oh and about the name supposedly from what I have found on the inter-web this is the traditional dessert serve at Eton College in England on June 4th, although it's unclear why, but I'll go out on a limb and say it's because strawberries where in season and that in and of itself is something to celebrate.

Eton Mess

Stem and hull about a pound of strawberries, chop them in half, keeping smaller ones whole and bigger ones maybe quarter. Place in a bowl and add 1T of kirsch and 4T sugar you can add more, but in this instance I like the berries to be a little on the sour side to give them a nice contrast to the sweet baked meringue, taste them after they have macerated and adjust to your taste, better to have to add sugar then to make them too sweet. Stir the berries minimally with a wooden spoon to just incorporate the sugar and kirsch (some people use port or other liquors, or you can just omit it all together), cover the bowl and place it in the fridge while you make the baked meringue.

Place 4 egg whites in a chilled bowl. You can use a whisk, but if you have a Hobard or hand held it will make it a much less athletic experience. Beat the whites until they are frothy then add
1/2 t cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks start to form, then gradually add 1 cup of sugar. Whisking/beating until it the meringue forms stiff peaks. It should have a glossy, luscious look to it. Make sure the sugar has dissolved, if you use regular sugar I suggest pulsing it in a food processor until it is ultra fine, or if you want use Castor sugar. If you think the meringue is done taste a bit of it and if it seems granular keep beating or simply feel the meringue between your fingers, it should feel smooth and silky.

Preheat the oven to 250F

Cover a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment and using a spatula spread the meringue mixture into a 1" or so mass all over the parchment. No need to be fussy here as it is just going to be broken up after cooking. Baked for an hour or more until the meringue comes away from the parchment easily, turning the cookie sheet half way through to ensure even baking.

When done turn the oven off and leave in the oven with the door slightly ajar for another 30 or so minutes.

Remove from oven and cool, once cool using your hands break it up into bite size chunks.

Just before you are ready to serve whipped 1 cup of heavy cream in a large bowl. Throw in a few hand fulls of meringue chunks and using a slotted spoon add the strawberries, trying to use a little of the sugar juice as possible. Stir only to incorporate. Using a large spoon plop a heap of mess on a plate. Serve the strawberry juice on the side if you wish, I like this dessert to look a mess not some prettified pink thing. The aspect of discovery, the boozy berry the sweet crunch of the meringue suspended in airy cream can't be beat.

Enjoy!

Are You Ready for Thanksgiving? Open Thread

 

Preparing for Thanksgiving can be anxiety inducing.  Over the last few weeks I have bee n trying to post recipes to give you inspiration on new ways to think about cooking cauliflower, make squash as a souffle or sweet potato as a spicy soup with peanuts.  

Last night I went out with a new friend, David, who works in a fancy restaurant that is very much about farm fresh produce and meat.  We had an overly salted, yet still tasty meal, at Marlow. Not sure why the entire cheese selection was all cows milk cheese... given the vast selection out there it seemed odd to me.  Of the two deserts the apple pie and cinnamon ice cream sounded great, but in the end we chose to just sip the rest of our lovey Gamay.

David and I had a lively dinner discussion touching on everything from living in Ho Chi Minh City as a student abroad to how if you cook a Turkey with the stuffing in it, it cooks slower (so maybe you might want to think about doing it on the stove top). He also told me how crest fallen he was to discover in adulthood that his childhood favorite Turkey stuffing, made by Grandmother,  was made mostly with Ritz Crackers.

As a Canadian I have never fully  understood the big deal that Thanksgiving is here and often would either go for lunch at the Second Avenue Deli or go for Indian food, but this year I am fully embracing

the traditional Turkey dinner.  

My two favorite things about thanksgiving are pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Although I don't actually make pumpkin pie... I make a ginger infused squash tart (that can be made with pumpkin, but this year I am making it with butternut squash instead).

What are your favorite Thanksgiving dishes or what are your least favorite? Feel free to just vent as well if this big yearly festival just makes you anxious and full of dread.

Thanksgiving New Amsterdam Market

Get there early! This is the perfect place to get all you need for Thanksgiving. Or to just enjoy a really fun market. I like the idea of buying local mead for Thanksgiving dinner. Also don't forget a lot of great people are setting up stands to feed you while you look around so you can enjoy a Luke's Lobster roll or yummy treats from Home/Made or some savory goodness from Jimmy's 43 to mention just a few.

Here is the press release I'll see you there!

The holiday season is upon us! Now is the celebratory time of year, when the table might be set for a few more guests, traditional recipes take center stage, and there is always reason to purchase a bottle or two of something special. Whether you're entertaining, or are on the lookout for a unusual gift, this Sunday's Thanksgiving market has something for every basket.

To get you in the holiday spirit, vendors will be offering mulled cider and hot chocolate as well as delicious, seasonal market fare to keep you warm.

Fermented drinks will be flowing: sample and purchase New York State wines from Clinton Vineyards, Silver Thread Vineyards, Fox Run Vineyards, Brooklyn Oenology, and Wolffer Estate; and be sure to visit the special Finger Lakes Reisling promotion, also taking place in the wine and cider aisle. Traditional hard ciders will include offerings from Slyboro and Bellwether; and you can also pick up some mead from Manhattan Meadery, and try kombucha from Kombucha Brooklyn.

Sweet Deliverance will present its regional Thanksgiving pies, both sweet and savory: choose from apple pear cranberry pie with crumble top; honey whipped goat cheese tart with roasted pears and fried sage leaves; and maple sweet potato pie with spiced candied nuts. (To ensure availability, order by 5:00pm this Friday; visit our vendor page for information).

Excellent pate', rillettes, seasonal sausages and other charcuterie will be available from the Piggery, Fleisher's Grass Fed and Organic Meats, Dickson's Farmstand Meats, Formaggio Essex, and Birchrun Hills Farm. Or make your own pate' with fresh chicken livers from Bo Bo Poultry. For those of you who have not pre-ordered, McEnroe Organic Farm will have a few of their organic, free-range turkeys available, first-come first-serve, but make sure to get to market early if you want one! And for other meals next week, Fleisher's, Dickson's Farmstand Meats, Escot Valley Farm, Bo Bo Poultry and others will also have chicken, lamb, beef, and pork available.

McEnroe Organic Farm will be offering kale and other greens as well as their hothouse tomatoes. And we're very excited to have two great new produce distributors at the market: Upstate Farms, based in Tivoli, NY and Zone 7, based in Lawrenceville, NJ. Their plentiful offerings of vegetables from local farms will fill your shopping carts - and help you imagine the return of regional produce distributors to our public markets.

Complement your meals with cheeses from excellent Northeast producers, as well as pre-selected cheese plates for your Thanksgiving feast. Purchase selections from Cooperstown Cheese Company, Saxelby Cheesemongers, Narragansett Creamery, Shellbark Hollow Farm, Birchrun Hills Farm, The Cellars at Jasper Hill, and Krugerrand Farm. Milk and other fresh dairy products will be available from Maple Hill Creamery, Hudson Valley Fresh, and Organic Valley.

Make New Amsterdam Market your source for regional baking supplies, including leaf lard for pies from the Health Shoppe and the Piggery, squashes from Basis Market, apples and pears from Upstate Farms and Zone 7, rare Cape Cod heirloom cranberries, apples, and cider from Breezy Hill Orchards, unique preserves from Miss Amy's and Formaggio Essex, maple syrup and maple sugar from Sugar Maple Farms and honey from all points in the Northeast provided by Bees' Needs, Formaggio Essex, and The Health Shoppe.

Enjoy fresh breads, made specially for the market by Sullivan Street Bakery and Pain D'Avignon. New to the market this month are also Eli's Bread, featuring a multi-grain health bread; and Nordic Breads, offering traditional Finnish Ruis (rye) loaves.

Wild offerings include seaweed harvested off the coast of Maine from She Sells Seaweed and a wide selection of wild food including wild ginseng, wild watercress, daylily tubers (excellent in salads), wild Jerusalem artichokes, wild leeks and ramps, pepperwort root (for horseradish lovers), fresh Ice and Oyster mushrooms, along with other dried and wood smoked mushrooms also for sale including: Morels, Chanterelles, Hen-of-the-Woods, Chicken-of-the-Woods, Lobsters, and Bear's Head - all harvested responsibly by Wild Gourmet Food in the woods and open lands of Vermont. And from the sea, enjoy oysters from Stella and W&T Seafood, and the freshest fish and seafood from Maine's Port Clyde Fresh Catch.

Discover new specialties such as The Redhead's bacon nut brittle, artisan products from Katchkie Farm, coffee from Intelligentsia and Stumptown, California olive oil from Provisions Shop, and bean-to-bar chocolate from Mast Brothers and Taza, kimchees from Mama O's Kimchee and Mother-In-Law's-Kimchi, and pickles from Rick's Picks. And to indulge your sweet tooth make sure to visit Liddabit Sweets for hand-crafted confections and The Bent Spoon for seasonal ice cream.

Savor market fare from Jimmy's No. 43; Luke's Lobster, Stella Maris, Porchetta, home/made, Sweet Deliverance, Great Performances and Basis Market.

And as always, the market will be joined by advocates for regional, sustainable food systems including Animal Welfare Approved; City Harvest; Edible Manhattan / Edible Brooklyn; and the Hudson Valley Seed Library, offering heirloom seeds.

Canning and Preserving with Ashley English

Before I start this post I have to make a full disclosure: I was introduced to the Homemade Living book series by a regular reader here at Urban Food Guy, who asked me if I'd be interested in taking a look at them. Indeed I did! Thankfully both volumes are actually great so it makes it easy for me to talk about them, but just felt like you needed to know that before I got started.

The first thing I thought when I got my copy of Canning and Preserving with Ashley English was how much it reminded me of an old, school textbook. Hard, durable cover, no dust jacket, well organized, with lots of good, instructive photographs. I almost half expected there to be selftest questions at the end.

This is a book that is constructed to be used. None of this limp paperback stuff that refuses to stay open, Nope, this is a book that Sterling Publishing have made because they not only want you to read and cook from it, they want you to do so again and again.

Even the art direction of the cover suggests a worn, pre-used look, kind of like pre-washed jeans. Comfortable and ready to get into. Canning books I've previously read tend to give you a quick overview of technique and then a list of recipes. Not the case here. Canning is presented as one aspect of a larger picture, raising important questions and giving valuable information about how the food is grown, where the food is grown, seasonality, community supported agriculture, biodynamic farming and, for me the most important thing, how this all promotes building community. Ms. English isn't just interested in getting us to make some jam and can it, she's trying to tutor us in how we can make better food choices for ourselves and each other.

She does this in two ways that I love. Sprinkled through out the book are little segments called: "Portraits of a Canner" which are interviews with people who Ashley knows can their own food. These are my favorite segments, with vaguely high school yearbook meets prison headshots and the sound of true candor of everyone's voice. If you needed one more thing to nudge you towards starting to do your own canning, these small, charming portraits should do it.

In every Portrait of a Canner there is a quote from the canner that has been enlarged to highlight why they are canners and again and again everyone says variations on the same few themes: it tastes better, you get to support local farmers, it's cheaper, and you have control of your food supply.

The one caveat I have to add here is that if you live in a big city, as I obviously do, it is not always cheaper. Peaches for example are as much as $4 a pound at the green market. While certainly you can find local peaches at Whole Foods for .89 cents a pound, they tend to be hard as rock and if I'd rather give my dollars to a farmer not a large corporation. But Canning and Preserving gives us the perfect solution to this problem: throw a canning party! Have a bunch of friends come over and spend an afternoon hanging out and can a bunch of stuff.

This is such a good idea on so many levels:

• It lowers the price of the produce because you are buying in bulk.

• Canning requires a lot of water: having a group canning even makes better use of the water because it's reused again and again.

• Living in New York, where most people have small kitchens, having a canning party can be down right practical: If just one of your friends has a big kitchen you can enroll them to be the host!

• This gives you a great opportunity and impetus to buy a lot of local produce. I find if you talk to the farmers at any of the local green markets most of them are willing to give a bulk discount. If you can't find the price you want try waiting until the end of the day when great deals are more likely to be found. Also don't just go to one market go to several over a period of days. Suss out the situation and make informed decisions. Just remember these farmers driver many hours to get to the city to sell their wares so please be respectful of the farmers, they are not rich people and any transaction needs to be fair for both parties.

The true test of a cookbook are the recipes, so I set about to make three different ones: Persian Refrigerator Pickles, Blueberry Jam (well, also a variation, in the book it's Strawberry, but what i have is blueberries...) and a variation on Peaches in Simple Syrup (a canning classic).

In the next couple of weeks I'm also going to make Chris's French Pickles and will report back. I love cornichon and these tart, tarragon infused, pickles look and sound amazing.

First off were the Quick Persian Pickles, a refrigerator pickle loaded with lots of cumin and coriander. I've a decided bias for anything with cumin in it.
The spices, vinegar, salt, sugar and water in the pot are slowly coming to a boil before dousing the prepped Kirby cucumbers.
Sitting in their brine cooling down.
In the recipe Ashley says you can eat them after 24 hours, but they really start to sing after a week. My thought is that they could be made a la bread and butter pickles and cut into coins so they might absorb the flavors quicker. Also, as much as I appreciate the quick pickle idea, sometimes quick pickles are so delicious you want to can them and extend the joy they give by having them in your larder all winter long. What I want to know is can these perfect Persians be canned? Or do they not have enough acidity? Something for volume 2 ;-)

Below fresh out of the fridge is my big sweaty jar of Quick Persian Pickles (my new favorite pickle).
By the time I got my copy of Canning and Preserving strawberry season was already over, but strawberry jam is the only jam recipe in the book. I did however have some amazing organic blueberries in my freezer so I decided to be adventuresome and try making blueberry jam (with a variation, but of course).
I looked around at other books which suggested you use a little water to get your berries and sugar going, I thought this unnecessary with frozen berries and in the end I was right as the jam was thinner than I would have liked. I should have used Ashley's cold plate Jam testing method for this batch, but instead I depended in a thermometer (at 220 F you've reached the "jam" stage).
Everything needs to be boiled and very clean!
Jarring the jam this time made me realize how handy a preserving funnel would be!
Adding the Basil.
One recipe I read (in another book) suggested Basil, so I added some to half my batch of Blueberry Jam and was underwhelmed with it (maybe once the jam sits for a while it will taste better?) There was some leftover basil/blueberry jam which wouldn't fill a jar so I added some black pepper in addition to the Basil which I thought greatly improved it. (This basil black pepper blueberry jam could be a lovely thing to add to pan drippings from a pork chop, maybe a little salt, and top with some roasted apricots for an easy mid week dinner.)

OK so now last, but not least: Peaches!
Peaches are a favorite at our house and this year's crop are particularly tasty!
To half of my batch of peaches I added a large chunk of fresh ginger and then topped off each jar with a couple of tablespoons of cognac. What could be bad?
If I look really focused it's only because my glasses steamed up and I can't see a thing!
The final product. You can see the chunk of Ginger in the jar at the top left.
Canning and Preserving by Ashley English is truly a must have book for anyone interested in preserving your own food. The most practical, beautiful, informative, easy to follow, and, yes even inspirational book on the topic that I've used and has great recipes (I want more!) . I can't wait until apple season to try my hand at making my own pectin, not to mention making Cranberry, Juniper and Rosemary Sauce for Thanksgiving!

Next up from Homemade Living is: Keeping Chickens. Look for my thoughts on this volume next week.

If you want to know more about Ashley and what she is up to check out her blog.

Canning News Flash!

As I was putting this article together Grist's Ask Umbra had a column on the dangers of BPA's (Bisphenol A) in canning lids! Umbra tells us BPA is: "a synthetic estrogen used to make some plastics hard and as a resin in can linings so they don't rust"

and she goes on:

"even trace exposure can disrupt your endocrine system and create all kinds of health problems, including cancer, adult-onset diabetes, and obesity".

So what is a canner to do? I had just bought some jars and wasn't about to throw them out, hell I'm already diabetic and apparently according to Umbra the CDC says that 93% of Americans tested have BPA in their bodies.

The good news is she suggests two alternatives, one is a BPA free reusable canning jar lid that can be used with all the jars you already have and the other one is a German canning system with glass lids called Weck Canning. They look really cool, I called them up and spoke with a very helpful woman who said supplies are limited, so not all sizes are in stock, but they are getting a shipment in next week. So place your order now!

Happy canning.

(The jars on the right are escabeche from last year.)