Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Savoring Federal Hill: Part 1 - Foodies on the Road



The only thing better than getting together with a group of your foodie friends, is really getting the opportunity to explore the foods and purveyors of a new region.  This past weekend I had the opportunity to get together with a group of my personal chef friends from all over the country in Providence, Rhode Island.

One of the many food centric activities we planned was taking Cindy Salvato's Savoring Federal Hill Tour.  After meeting in a a cafe in the historic district and grabbing a morning coffee, we headed to our first stop, Antonelli's Poultry

The sidewalk has a sprinkling of chicken tracks leading up to entrance, where the signs proclaim "Choose Your Chicken Alive".  Cindy informed us that the tracks lead inside, but you'll note there aren't any coming out.

The inside of the narrow shop features a counter with fresh quail eggs, and freshly dressed chickens.  Customers head to the back of the store and go past a plastic curtain to choose their chicken from the cages stacked in the back.  The chicken is then killed and cleaned on-site.  One of the Silkies, which features fluffy white feathers, and black skin, was brought out for us to see, as was the partridge below.  The shop also carries rabbits.


Since we there early on Saturday morning, there were plenty of families, kids in tow, that came into to choose their chickens.  In addition to fresh meat, the shop also carries a nice selection of spices, seasonings, and other goodies. 

They also showed us some of the egg yolks that came out of the butchered chickens.  Said they were great dropped into soup.  (photo courtesy of Mary Beth Brinkerhoff)


It was nice to see a shop operating pretty much the same way it has been for the past century.  In this era of nuggetized, shrink-wrapped, boneless chicken,  it was a great to see that truly fresh chicken is still available for those that seek it out. 

Stay tuned for the rest of the tour....

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Spring Supper: Beet Greens, Asparagus, w/Poached Eggs


Are you looking forward to Spring as much as I am?  While the beets were tiny (Chiogga with the pretty rings), the greens were young, fresh and tasty.  I got these from the final indoor winter farmer's market from Maize Valley Farm.

After a long day with no real plan for dinner, a search of the fridge turned up the beet greens, a bunch of asparagus (not yet local, but pretty good), some cooked lentils, and a couple of Brunty Farms eggs.  The last carton of eggs were so big I couldn't even close the carton.

So I sauteed the beets and greens, then the asparagus, and brought a pot of water to boil to poach the eggs.  I got to test out a new gadget - these silicone poaching pods.  Note that you still need to grease the pods, lest your eggs stick to them.  This was my first time using them.  They worked pretty well, but I did break one of the eggs getting it out.


If I hadn't been so tired, I would have thought of the perfect addition to this dinner - some of the awesome Chevre from Lucky Penny Creamery!  But I didn't until it was too late.  Next time, though.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Garden Plowed






The garden was chisel plowed by a local farmer/friend, Jim Berry. He has such large equipment, he can do it in about 14 minutes. I still have to till it, that takes about 4 hours with my small tractor! He is very generous to do this for me, saves me much time. Eventually I will get a small chisel plow or a more powerful tiller so that I can do it myself, but for now I'll let Jim do it if he's willing.

Everything is growing well in the greenhouse. Today I planted swiss chard, beets (red & chioggia), pac choi, and kohlrabi. I also planted some tomato plants for pot sales. If any of you are planning your own garden to supplement your CSA share, I will have some plants for sale in about 3 or 4 weeks. Planting in the ground will begin later this month, or early May, depending on the weather.

I spent Easter in Denver with my 3 children and my daughter-in-law and granddaughter. On Saturday my daughter and I went to opening day of the Boulder Farmers' Market. This market is one of the best I have ever attended. So many vendors and lots of customers. But we have markets just as good, such as the Countryside Conservancy Market in the Cuyahoga Valley Park. There is a market this Saturday at the Happy Days Visitor Center on Rt. 303, starting at 9:00 am. Get there early if you want the best selection. This Saturday is the last winter market at this location. The weekly Saturday morning markets begin May 15th at Howe Meadow on Riverview Road. I just love this market and am friends with many of the vendors. I also volunteer on the advisory committee, which helps the market manager set policies and select vendors for the season. This should be our best year ever, and I hope you will attend at some time this season and support all the vendors that are working so hard to bring local products to the community.