Kamm's Corner Farmers Market

Yeh! Farmers Markets Rule

My friend and fellow blogger, Tina, and I braved the oven-like temperatures yesterday in search of more delicious food jems in our favorite city.... Cleveland! We found some great stands including White Family Farm which can be found on http://voytkofarms.com/. You can pick some of your own produce here. I picked some great blueberries last year and they are in season right now so hurry up and go there! The farm is a bit of a hike in Auburn Township, but, the location is beautiful. It's worth it I think.

My next favorite stand was Hooper Farm and this picture below is the reason..... Dear Old Dad's hot pepper relish. I guess you would call it a relish. Its not a jam, so yes, I'm calling it a relish. This stuff was sold out. I'll definitely go earlier next time so I can purchase some. It was great on homemade pita chips which were out for sampling. At first it was sweet and then followed with a slow burn. Very tasty!

But my favorite discovery of the day was The Olive Tap!!! This can be found on http://www.theolivetap.com/. The "olive tasting emporium" is located in Medina, Ohio just 30 minutes south of Cleveland. Their is also a stand at the Crocker Park
farmers market on Saturdays. Anyhow, I felt like we had are own personal tasting emporium right at the stand. John, the owner, let us taste about 10 different oils and vinegars. Some of the one's that stood out in my mind were the mandarin orange infused oil, the strawberry infused balsamic vinegar, and the pear and spice infused vinegar. Imagine the salads you could create with those babies. Or forget the salad, they are great on ice cream says John(my new friend). I also tried a mushroom and sage infused olive oil which, I swear, tasted like Thanksgiving. Anyhow, I'll stop now. The price on most of the bottles was around 15.00. This stand was definitely worth the trip to Kamms, so, go check it out.

Time for summer salsa

This to me is the epitome of summer.... Salsa(and a margarita)! My tomatoes are not yet ripe, but, I cannot wait. So I used plum tomatoes from the store. But, I did use fresh cilantro from my husband's garden. Speaking of my husband, he is out with my daughter sabotaging my healthy efforts at one of the local rib festivals. I guess that is their idea of summer. I took a pass and whipped up this salsa and some banana bread instead(that took some self-control). Anyhow, here is the recipe. I think it is awesome.....

Sue's Serendipitous Salsa:

8 plum tomatoes quartered and seeded

1/4 c. cilantro

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 jalapeno(add more if you like it hot)

1 clove of garlic

juice from 2 limes

3- 4 tsp of cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

1-4 tsp black pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Enjoy with your favorite chips and cerveza.

Chichen Chilaquiles

Not a bad dinner for a hot and humid Tuesday night! I got 4 very enthusiastic thumbs up from my homies which is next to impossible in my house. Anyways, I just wanted to share the recipe of Chicken Chilaquiles(I like to say the name.) which provides a mere 347 calories per serving. I had some leftover grilled chicken, but, you can also use rotisserie chicken breast. Here it is:

Chicken Chilaquiles

2 c. shredded skinless rotisserie chicken

1/2 c. chopped green onions

1/2 c. mexican blend shredded cheese

2T. parmesan cheese

1t. chili powder

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

Combine those ingredients in a medium bowl. Next make the sauce....

3/4 c. 1% milk

1/4c. cilantro(I used more)

11 oz can of tomatillos(I used fresh tomatillos chopped)

4.5 oz can of green chiles drained

Blend those ingredients in a blender or food processor.

Then place 1/3 of sauce into a 11 x 7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Place 4 small corn tortillas over the sauce. Put 1/2 of your chicken mixture on the tortillas. Then layer(like lasagna) another 4 tortillas and rest of chicken. End with 4 tortillas on the top. Pour remaining tomatillo sauce over the whole dish. I made some extra sauce to ensure the dish is moist enough. Sprinkle with 1/4 c. Mexican shredded cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Strawberries!!!!

Last weekend my sister Judy and I went strawberry picking at Patterson fruit farm. Patterson
is usually known for its apples, but picking strawberries was equally fun. It felt great to be kneeling in the dirt with the view of the green hills in the distance. The sun was warming the plants and the smell of fresh strawberries was surrounding us. So, we went a little crazy! We picked 6 trays of strawberries. After all, strawberries are only in season for a short time and when would we have this opportunity again? Right? Well,
2 hours and $60 later we left Patterson's with red finger tips and a trunk full of strawberries. I think the Patterson staff may have been chuckling at us. Once I got home, I was admittedly a little overwhelmed by all the strawberries I had just purchased. My family was starting to get tired of eating strawberries in everything. I consulted with Eating Well's Strawberries Healthy Food Guide: http://www.eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/healthy_food_guide/strawberries . It's best to freeze strawberries within four days of picking. So, make sure you have some time set aside. I did not plan well and then became really stressed when the 4th day arrived. I started having bad dreams about millions of rotting strawberries. Anyhow, all was well and I got them frozen in time. Back to the freezing process. They should initially be placed in the freezer on a cookie tray so they don't stick together. Then they can be transferred to freezer bags and used later. The strawberries may be used up to a whole year after freezing. I can't wait for those smoothies next winter! Would I do it again despite my strawberry stress? You bet ya... They were way sweeter and more tender than their grocery store counterparts.
Because I am the caring foodie, I have to include a few nutritional facts. A cup of strawberries provides a whole day's worth of vitamin C and 3 grams of fiber. They also are a great source of folic acid for any of you pregos out there.
Here is my latest creation using the strawberries.... Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp from http://cookinglight.com/.

Udupi!

O.K. So I have to apologize because it's been way to long since I've blogged. I hope I haven't lost the few readers I've accumulated. Anyhow, I tried a vegetarian Indian restaurant this week called Udupi, and it's a spot I have been meaning to try for a long time. My friend Tina(fellow foodie)

and I went in blindly, which is usually not the way I roll. Also, although our waiter was extremely polite and gracious, there was a huge language barrier. This is not good because I tend to order like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally- lots of questions. So I think our waiter assumed I was your typical fried-food-loving American. He offered to bring us a platter of various, popular appetizers. They were all deep-fried and admittedly tasty, but not healthy-blog-friendly. One of the fried items resembled a hockey puck. It was black and had a crispy outer layer but was sweet and bright PURPLE on the inside. I imagine this was beets, but again, I had trouble getting a description from the waiter.

I ended up ordering Malia Kofta, which is a dumpling made of potatoes, carrots and peas. It came in a delicious and mild saffron sauce made from cashews. It was extremely rich. So, I guess the title of this post could be labeled, "Do as I say and not as I do..."

After I left, I did some research on eating healthy at Indian restaurants. The following are some rules of thumb you should follow if you are trying to watch calories and fat.

Key words to look for are:

"Tandoori"- baked or grilled

"Vindaloo"- red, spicy sauce

"Daal"- lentils which are low-fat and rich in vitamins and fiber

"Parantha"- Whole wheat bread

"Raita"- A tasty yogurt-based condiment which balances out the spicy sauces

Key words to avoid:

"malai"- means cream

"makhani or "ghee"- means butter

"pakora"- deep fried fritter

Overall our experience was great! By nature, Indian is naturally good vegetarian fare. The rich and exotic sauces and spices used in Indian cuisine make you forget that meat is missing from the dish. The only thing I was missing was some Indian friends to help me translate.