challenge, farmer's markets, growing, locavore

One Local Summer 2009, Week #14

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I know that the  One Local Summer Challenge is officially over, but I made this soup this week and thought it would be a better ending to OLS 2009.

ols_14a

The soup is Potage Parmentier (potato and leek soup) and the recipe is from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

  • leeks from Cherry Grove, Newtown, CT
  • potatoes, harvested at the moment from my own back yard (Late Bloomers Farm food!)
  • butter from Vermont Butter & Cheese Co. (regional, not local but I did score some local butter today at Halas Farm market (New Fairfield). They carry some Ronnybrook Farm Dairy (Ancramdale, NY) products.

Voilà!

ols_14b

The flavor was simple yet divine. Nothing tricky about the recipe or techniques.

A couple of other fun dishes this week…

I found these Turkish eggplants at Cherry Grove in Newtown:

turkish_eggplant

That’s a quarter, so you can get an idea of their actual size.

And I had some itty bitty potatoes from my garden:

tiny_potatoes

Same quarter so you can do the same size comparison.

I wish I had quail eggs so I could do the quarter/size thing again. I could call this the miniature meal.

It was supposed to be an eggplant omelet with potatoes, but I’m still working on my omelet technique. So, it was scrambled eggs with pan-sauteed eggplant and potatoes.

not_an_omelet

Anyway, the eggplant tasted like eggplant, but sweeter. (Eggs from Rough Cut Ranch in Sandy Hook, via McLaughlin Vineyards.)

And for the Labor Day festivities, I brought:

Salsa

salsa

  • tomatoes and jalapeno from Cherry Grove Farm in Newtown, CT
  • cilantro and onion from Gazy Brothers Farm
  • garlic from Missy’s Greenhouse and Farmstand, Goshen, NY
  • olive oil, lime, salt and pepper from the world

and Green Bean Salad:

green_beans

I had an opportunity to check out the Monroe Farmers Market this week and got to try some items from some different vendors. It’s a fantastic market and I still wish weekday markets would stay open past 6 PM. Sigh!

4 thoughts on “One Local Summer 2009, Week #14”

  1. What wonderful soup – I have lots of leeks now but far from enough potatoes to do anything with – only a few tiny (thumbnail size) red ones. Where/what is Cherry Grove, I’ve never heard of it. The eggplants – I’d love to track them down for my father…

  2. Cherry Grove is in Newtown and not on a main route. They don’t have a Web site.

    They are roughly here, but on the north side of where Palestine, Platts Hill, and Hundred acres meet.

  3. Oh, and you can freeze the leeks now until potatoes become more plentiful. It’s not like you have to preserve their texture–you’re going to run them through the food mill anyway.

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