Tuesday, August 10, 2010

My Day Off - Farmer's Market, Pickles, Cookies & Steak with Potatoes Two Ways


As those living in Portland well know, this "summer" we've been having is quite depressing. It rained this morning. It hasn't hit 80 in 5 or so days and I think we're all a little desperate now that it's August. I've been trying to keep my spirits up by enjoying the bounty of our farmer's markets and on my day off yesterday I went to town (literally and figuratively). We started at the downtown Pioneer Square market yesterday morning where I scored two types of family made chevre cheese (the 12 year old who sold it to me assured me she helped make it), one amazing cheddar (made from cow's and goat's milk), salmon cream cheese spread, salami, eggplants, zucchini, adorable fingerling potatoes and pickling cucumbers. For something to munch on while I shopped, I bought a fleur de sel chocolate chip cookie from a local bakery and decided it was time to make cookies, too.


Pickles:

I saw these picking cukes on the table at the farmer's market and decided to finally try my hand at quick pickles. I've been reading a lot about them and they seem easy and delicious. So, I got the cukes and some green beans (sadly, the market didn't have any so I got these from Fred Meyer) and read up on how to make them. I came across several vague articles, but the one I ended up using is from Serious Eats. The slide show they provided made the process somewhat more clear.

You start with your cucumbers (or green beans, or asparagus, or whatever you want to pickle) and generously sprinkle them with salt. Let them sit for 15-30 minutes while you prepare your brine.

The brine can be whatever you want it to be. I suggest using distilled white vinegar over any other vinegar because it tastes much cleaner than say a white wine vinegar. You want about a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water (I used about 2 1/2 c vinegar to 2 c water). I added cumin seed, fennel seed, white and black peppercorns, garlic, red pepper flake and coriander. And a bunch of kosher salt (I used Morton's) and about a 1/4 c of sugar. Let that boil. Once it boils you can pour it over your veggies that you've packed into jars. Let them cool and then put the lids on the jars and put in the refrigerator. I can attest that my cukes tasted great after about 2 hours in the fridge. The green beans needed about 24 hours to really let the flavor seep in. They are both really good, though, and I'm very excited to make burgers with the cheddar cheese I bought and have the pickles on the side. Keep in mind that with this method of quick pickling you'll want to eat your stuff within about 2 weeks or they'll go bad.




Cookies:

I named these cookies "Emily's Uh-Mazing Chocolate Chip Cookies". It's not my sister's recipe, but she's the one who gave it to me so I named them after her. They are brilliant. There are a few things different about this recipe. For one, you use a ton of brown sugar and vanilla. For another, you only let them bake for 9 minutes. That's it. No longer! They'll stay soft and chewy for days. I added one more ingredient (after being inspired after the farmer's market cookie) which was fleur de sel. I sprinkled just a bit on top of each cookie before I baked them. Yummmm...

1 cup real butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2-1/2 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups chocolate chips (I just use a bag, which is about 2 cups)

Beat butter, sugars, eggs & vanilla. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda & powder. Beat dry ingredients into creamed mixture & stir in chocolate chips.

Place golf ball sized portions 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet & bake for 9 minutes at 350. Do not over bake, even if they don't seem done.
 
 
 
 
So, these fingerling potatoes were just too cute to pass up. I've had a couple of potato dishes swimming around my head for awhile and I thought, why not try them both?!? Hence, the potatoes two ways. The first is a tarragon green bean and potato salad that I've adapted from this blog. The second recipe is for salt potatoes, apparently a delicacy in upstate New York. How they've managed to keep these babies a secret is beyond me. They were simply divine. I want my potatoes cooked like this from now. No more baked or gratin potatoes for me. Simple, delicious and gorgeous. I beg you to try this recipe. 


 
Tarragon, Green Bean and Potato Salad:


For the dressing:
125 g / 4½ oz. plain yogurt
1 medium shallot, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped tarragon
2 Tbsp. vinegar (I used red wine, but should have used white)
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil

Combine the yogurt, shallot, vinegar, tarragon and mustard in a small bowl.  Whisk in the oil and season to taste.

For the salad:
200 g / 7 oz. haricots verts (or thin green beans), washed and broken in half if long
360 g / 13 oz. small, waxy potatoes, scrubbed and sliced into rounds 65 mm / ¼” thick
50 g / ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted (optional)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Place the green beans in a strainer or pasta insert and cook 2-3 minutes, until bright green and crisp tender.  Remove them from the pot and give them a quick rinse in cold water to stop the cooking.  Drain.  (You may need to do this in two batches if your strainer is small like mine.)

Add the potatoes to the pot, return to a boil, and reduce heat to medium.  Simmer potatoes until tender, about 10 minutes.  Drain.  (No need to save the water this time.)

Transfer the hot potatoes to a salad bowl and toss with the green beans and the dressing.  Allow the flavors to meld for at least 20 minutes.  Just before serving, sprinkle in the almonds and stir to distribute.  Serve at room temperature.



Salt Potatoes:

I couldn't find a good recipe online for these, so I improvised and they turned out amazing. I hope my recipe makes sense!

1 lb. fingerling potatoes
1 C. Kosher salt (I used Morton's)
1/2 stick butter
1 tsp. chopped rosemary, plus some for garnishing

Boil water in a large pot and add the salt and the potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender (about 12 minutes). Drain potatoes and let them sit on a cooling rack - as the water dries, the salt makes a nice crust. Add the butter to the same pot over low heat. Add the dried potatoes and let them meld until all your butter is melted. Throw in the chopped rosemary and remove the potatoes into a small serving bowl. Pour excess melted butter into the bowl and garnish with rosemary.




Steak:

I won't go overboard on this steak recipe, since you should all know how to cook a perfect steak by now. I just wanted to mention that this was a bone in rib eye steak from the Montavilla Farmer's Market (Sundays). It was spendy ($20.99/lb) but really good. It was redder than any other steak I've seen which scared me at first but I guess that's probably how steak SHOULD look. We dressed it simply with salt and pepper and grilled for about 3-4 minutes per side (they were pretty thin steaks). There was just enough fat on these suckers to have a small bit of fat with each bite of steak. I would've liked to see more meat on these for the price we paid, but the meat that was there was just butter. Delish! Trey and I discussed the option of buying a cow this year so we can great steaks like this all the time. Anyone know of a cow co-op?! Let me know if you do!


Bon Appetit!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm totally full from dinner but seeing these pictures and reading the pickle description, let's eat!

Jude W said...

Great blog you haave here