A Produce Poker Run

Fresh cut flowers accompany produce at a family farm stand.

It was a perfect August Saturday afternoon… warm breeze, sunny skies and the chores for the day were done. It was time to get out of the house to enjoy this moment from an otherwise rainy summer of 2009. Early August welcomes the harvest of Finger Lakes grown garlic and if you’ve never tasted truly fresh garlic then you’re missing out on a real treat. Firm texture, oily flesh, crisp aromas, and depending on the variety, you will experience flavors of sweet, spicy, hot or mild.

We keep a box of specialty booklets handy for such days so today we dug out our Guide To Yates County Fresh Produce. With this in hand and a GPS booted up and programmed for our first destination, we hit the road. We traveled the land between the lakes, back roads leading to small family farms and large home gardener’s front lawns. Many of the stands are operated by Mennonite farmers who feature along with their produce baked good selections made from the recipes brought with them from southeast Pennsylvania.

As we motored along from stand to stand we failed to find the prized garlic, but we did manage to pick up a few other goodies: peach pie, patty pan squash, peanut butter cookies, eggs, zucchini, tomatoes, a loaf of bread, eggplant, cantaloupe, and green beans. The car was filling up, but still no garlic. For fear of  not accomplishing our mission we decided to take a change in course, a plan “B” if you will, and drop by the annual Fox Run Winery Garlic Festival. A garlic lover’s heaven, the festival features booth upon booth of vendors selling a myriad of garlic varieties, sauces, dips, veggies, jams, and more. We now had in hand nearly a year’s supply of garlic (and the good stuff will stay fresh that long), and oh yeah, a bag of shallots too.

Photos of our adventure are available here.

Pasta with Zucchini, Ricotta and Basil

by Mark Bittman, New York Times News Service

Serves 4-6

• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb. zucchini, rinsed and cut into 1/4 - 1/2-inch dice
• 1 tsp. minced garlic, or more to taste
• 1 lb. penne or other cut pasta
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup basil leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil over a medium skillet, add zucchini, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until zucchini begins to brown then lower heat and continue cooking until tender (about 15 minutes). Two minutes before zucchini is done, add garlic. 

While your pasta and zucchini are cooking, warm a serving bowl and put ricotta in it, along with half the basil. When the pasta is done cooking reserve at least 1 cup of the water, drain the pasta. Use as much of this liquid as necessary, a little at a time, to thin ricotta until it reaches a saucy consistency. Toss with pasta, zucchini, remaining basil and Parmesan. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Bruschetta (garlic bread with tomatoes and herbs)

Typically I make bruschetta late in the summer when the local Roma tomatoes are at their peak. If you can’t find good Romas then don’t bother making this recipe!

Note that the first part of this recipe creates a traditional garlic bread.

Makes 4

• 4 pieces of rustic bread (Italian or French) sliced 1 inch thick
• 2 - 3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• Small handful of minced fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• Fresh Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• Optional pinch of fresh chopped oregano

Place bread slices under a broiler or over the hot coals of a grill. When lightly browned, turn and toast the other side. Remove bread and rub the clove of garlic on one side of the bread. Lightly drizzle some olive oil over the bread.

Heat a small sauté pan on medium - high heat then add 1 - 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the diced tomatoes, stirring constantly, until just heated through - you don’t want to cook them so they get to soft. Add herbs and vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, then remove from heat and spoon mixture over top of the garlic bread. Sprinkle cheese on top and if you wish, quickly warm the bread to melt the cheese just a bit.

Cheese Cake Dip

Use Sacheli’s Onion Pepper Jelly for this recipe.

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 5 oz. grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 egg
• 8 oz. jar onion pepper jelly
• sprinkle of paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first 4 ingredients with 1/2 jar of onion pepper jelly. Pour mixture into greased baking dish or spring form pan. Sprinkle top with paprika. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool completely. Just prior to serving, glaze cake with remaining jelly. Serve with assorted crackers.

Creamy Garlic Soup

After July’s featured article on garlic, one community member forwarded his favorite garlic recipe to share with us.

Makes 1 qt

• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped garlic (about 36 cloves)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 6 cups beef broth
• 1 cup dry vermouth
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• Croutons and chopped chives

Melt butter in heavy, large saucepan over low heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is soft, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add flour and stir 4 minutes. Whisk in broth a little at a time. Increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, add vermouth and simmer 25 minutes.

Puree soup in batches in a blender (our use a hand blender). Return to saucepan and place over very low heat. Whisk a little soup and sour cream in a small bowl. Slowly return the soup and sour cream blend back to the remaining soup, whisking constantly; do not boil. Remove from heat. Blend in nutmeg. Ladle into bowls. Garnish each with croutons and chives and serve.