delicious

Ask and you shall receive.

September 23, 2016 By newwestfarmers

Two weeks ago there were at least two, possibly three market vendors displaying large, beautifully green and white fennel bulbs, this week, there were none. I was about to settle into panic mode, I was frantically stalking table after table looking for the feathery fronds.

I did NOT want to veer from this week’s plan.

With desperation in my voice, I asked Noella Oss of Ossome Acres if she had any, knowing full well there were none on her tables.

A winking smile spread across her face.

“We have one, but it’s old, from last week,” she said.

She opened up a plastic bin from behind the tent and pulled out a giant bulb. The fronds weren’t the luscious green of the week before, rather a light green, bordering on brown in spots. But the white bulb was large and thick and that’s exactly what I needed.

I told her my plans.

She told me the bulb would suit them perfectly.

Even better at the week-old, discounted price she gave!

And with that, the first cioppino of the season was born.

ingredients

For cioppino, I usually use the Bon Appetit recipe as it has never steered me wrong. But this time I got a little adventurous and veered from the word-for-word recipe. While I kept to the base, I changed things up a bit to make it more market-fresh.

Because cioppino is usually a cold-weather meal, the veggie content has never been market-fresh. It’s always been canned tomatoes, shipped in fennel, onions, and seafood too. But with Saturday’s forecast calling for heavy rain, I thought it a perfect opportunity to experiment with my cioppino.

Instead of canned tomatoes, I used fresh roma tomatoes that I crushed in the blender; my onion, garlic and fennel were also fresh and local. The major seafood component, pacific cod, was acquired from Ron “the fish guy” at Wild Westcoast Seafoods.

In recipes past, I’ve used halibut for the white fish, but halibut is crazy expensive right now. Ron steered us towards the pacific cod (“chunkies”) that is similar to halibut, albeit a bit chewier, and at a fraction of the cost.

Technically the crusty bread wasn’t acquired at the market, but we did pick the loaf up from Bread Affair at Granville Island, which also has a booth at the market, so it, too, had a market connection.

Honestly, I don’t know if the taste was any better, but I do know it wasn’t worse. I love my cioppino. I’ve loved it ever since my first recollection of it when in San Francisco years ago, and this batch did not disappoint. Every slurp was a savoury adventure of glorious goodness.

Another market score!

cioppino

Base recipe here

This week’s loot:

Wild Westcoast Seafoods: • Pacific cod: $8

Ossome Acres: • 6 German butter potatoes: $2.30

• 1 bag of dragon-tongue beans: $2.10

• 1 fennel: $2.25

Zaklan Heritage Farm: • 1 onion: $0.70

• 4 sweet peppers: $4.65

• 2 mustard greens: $5

• 1 garlic bulb: $1.80

• 4 roma tomatoes: $2.28

Harvest Direct Farms: • 5 ambrosia apples: $5

Muy Rico: • 1 container pico de gallo: $5

Total spent was $39.10, leaving 90 cents to spend on next week’s $40 budget.

Last week Aaron Oss encouraged me to take a chomp out of one of his purple and white dragon tongue beans. It was crisp, it was juicy, and by golly that colour tugged at my pretty little taste buds.

I had hoped to throw the beans into a salad, but got so bogged down with my first week of physics, I didn’t end up using them beyond mixing them into a stir fry and eating them raw with hummus. Both of which were fine, but I wanted to really showcase their uniqueness. So for this week, I tracked down a salad recipe that called for fingerling potatoes, which I switched out for German butter potatoes.

I baked the potatoes, made my own viniagrette, blanched the beans, which were supposed to change from their pretty spots to green, but in the end only partially changed, mixed it all together.

Wow!

Every bite was an explosion of succulent flavour. So tasty. So good. So going to be making again.

beansalad

Recipe here

Can you guess what I’m making next week?

I’m on the hunt for tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro and salt. It’s something already offered at the market, but something I’m going to try my hand at making market-fresh, homemade.

What are you on the hunt for?

Three Awesome Summer Salads

July 12, 2012 By newwestfarmers

People who say salads are boring must simply not like their greens because salads can be the most colourful, flavourful, and healthiest dishes out there. With a little creativity and help from seasonal produce, you can make your own summer salads a hit at parties without KO-ing your wallet.

Broccoli Salad

With broccoli in season it’s no wonder we’re making salads devoted to it. Food Network’s recipe takes no time at all to prepare and gives a delicious variety of flavours. The one plus I love with this salad are the cherry tomatoes from our farmers market that pop in your mouth!

Ingredients

1 head broccoli
6 to 8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup raisins, optional
8 ounces sharp Cheddar, cut into very small chunks
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Trim off the large leaves from the broccoli stem. Remove the tough stalk at the end and wash broccoli head thoroughly. Cut the head into flowerets and the stem into bite-size pieces. Place in a large bowl. Add the crumbled bacon, onion, raisins if using, and cheese. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, stirring well. Add to broccoli mixture and toss gently. Serves 6-8.

Orange and Fennel Salad

Some may think that fennel is strictly used as a dried herb to help spice up dishes, but this recipe lets you enjoy fennel in its fresh, raw state straight from the farmer’s market.

Ingredients

1 large fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 medium oranges, peeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

Place the sliced fennel in a salad bowl. Slice oranges to divide flesh sections and add to bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper. Toss, top with sweetened cranberries and serve. Serve 4.

Kale Salad with Apricots, Avocado and Parmesan

Raw kale is surprisingly un-bitter, especially if you buy it fresh from the farmers market. With its chewy texture, earthy flavour, and superfood nutrition profile, kale is a great base for your salad. This recipe might definitely convert you to a kale-dominant salad eater!

Ingredients

6-8 ounces of kale
6-8 dried apricots
1/3 cup cooked beans
1/4 cup almonds
8-10 flakes of Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 avocado
salt and pepper

Directions

Fold a piece of kale in half lengthwise and use your fingers to tear out the tough inner stem. Repeat with the other leaves of kale. Tear all the leaves into bite-sized pieces and put them in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Cut the apricots into small pieces and add them to the kale, along with the beans, almonds and cheese. Whisk together the oil and vinegar. Pour the vinaigrette and salt over the salad and toss everything together.

Just before eating, slice the avocado into cubes and spoon them over the salad. This salad will keep for about 24 hours, preferably refrigerated. Serves 1.

Lemon Squares for Dad

June 15, 2012 By newwestfarmers

Instead of the typical boxed chocolates,socks, or a tie, make your Father’s Day present a little more unique this year and add a personal, homemade touch. I snagged this recipe off Allrecipes Lemon Square Bars Recipe but added a bit more lemon to the suggested servings for that extra zest. This recipe only takes about an hour, a nine by 13 inch deep-dish pan, mixing utensils and the following ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups flour

Filling:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 lemons, juiced

I made half the amount this recipe called for only because I wanted to taste test my creation before presenting it to my dad, so the pictures displayed below are my modified quantities.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mix the ingredients for the crust, the butter, white sugar and flour together in a mixing bowl.

3. Press the mix into your deep-dish pan.

4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until firm and golden.

5. Mix the ingredients for the filling, the eggs,
white sugar and lemon juice together in a mixing bowl.

6. Pour the filling over the baked crust.

7. Bake for 20 minutes.

8. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

9. Add confectioner’s sugar for a finished touch.

From my first attempt, I ate about half the pan as soon as the squares came out of the oven. They had a nice, crunchy crust that had the right amount of sugar along with the confectioner’s sugar on top, and the added lemon juice (the original recipe asked for two lemons) in the filling countered the sweetness with more zing. I was surprised by how moist the lemon squares stayed after baking. This was by far one of the easier desserts to make without breaking the bank or mussing up the kitchen and is a definite must-bake for Father’s Day.

River Market’s Rice Gone Wild

May 25, 2012 By newwestfarmers

Whoever says you can’t have the best of both worlds hasn’t been to the new Wild Rice restaurant in New Westminster’s River Market. Imagine traditional-tasting Chinese food infused with delicacies from other countries and prepared with modern cooking techniques; you have Wild Rice. One of the most appealing aspects there, aside from the friendly, attentive staff, spic and span, wide open kitchen where you can watch chefs make your meal, and the chic, modern look and feel of the lounge and dining area, is the fact that you know where your food is coming from and how it’s being processed.

Todd Bright

Todd Bright, Australian-born head chef of Wild Rice, plunged his hands quite literally into the world of cooking. He started off with washing dishes with onion bag scrubbers at a local Chinese restaurant in Australia and worked his way up to cooking woks of fried rice and deep frying food. He then shifted his studies from business software and development to a culinary apprenticeship with the Technical and Further Education colleges, a four year process that gained him experience in the field. He then took time to travel for a few years and finally landed in Canada in 2007 where he started his career as a line cook with Wild Rice in Vancouver.

All About Food

Since Todd became head chef, he decided to make a positive influence on the way Wild Rice affects the environment and local community. “What I try and do is take traditional elements and traditional dishes and turn them on their heads and incorporate as much local and sustainable produce as possible. We change our menu four times a year to be seasonal so we can use the best of the local produce.” Aside from buying from local companies such as Two Rivers and Serving House, Wild Rice is also a member of Ocean Wise, Green Table Society, Shark Truth and Recycling Alternative. As much as these decisions may cost him a little bit more, Todd affirms that supporting local farmers is “something I believe in.”

Wild Rice also caters to a wide variety of people. The menu is dairy-free, gluten-free and focuses on vegan-friendly dishes. “The food we do here is unlike any other food around… it’s creative and it’s uniquely west coast. 52% of our menu is vegan.” Todd’s mantra: “eat more vegetables; eat less, better quality meat.” One dish that he is exceptionally proud of is the Grilled King Oyster Mushroom dinner plate complete with cashews, caramelized ricotta and scallion polenta fries. “It hits all the buttons: texture and fat from the cashews, meatiness from the mushroom and crispiness from the fries. It can satisfy a meat eater and fully satisfy a vegan.”

New Westminster to Call Home

When asked why he decided to set up Wild Rice at the River Market, he simply said, “It is such a unique community out here. What better place to start a new Wild Rice to engage a community that is up-and-coming and growing where there is longevity and to be attached to a market we believe in.”

Fundraiser Night

This is Wild Rice’s first year teaming up with RCFM for their 5th annual fundraiser. “I’m looking forward to making that one-on-one bond with the farmers [at RCFM]. That’s really exciting. It’s just going to be great at the fundraiser to show the vendors what we are all about.” The dishes at the fundraiser night vary from chicken to pork to vegan. His inspiration for the set dishes was “using the farmers’ market suppliers with [his] twist on things. [He tried] to make it as simple and enjoyable as possible.”

Todd recommends the House Made Chinese BBQ Pork that is served on a bed of jasmine rice with steamed broccoli and bok choy. I highly suggest picking this dish on fundraiser night if you like or can eat pork. I took a lunch box to go and couldn’t put it down! And as for the seasonally inspired cocktails that will be served with dinner, a “floral and berry infused gin complete with muddled strawberries will take centre stage, as well as traditional sangrias.

photo (2) — House Made Chinese BBQ Pork takeout

When asked what he was expecting from his first RCFM fundraiser event, Todd simply said, “The whole thing about the fundraiser is getting people engaged. I’m just looking forward to interacting with the community and the farmers market and just speaking to people who are as passionate with what they do as I am.” The night promises to be one filled with new experiences, new friendships and Chinese take-out boxes.

Teach Me How to Cook!

Wild Rice New West 308 — Chef Todd Bright hosting a cooking demonstration

Wild Rice also hosts an interactive cooking demonstration every Monday night at the River Market location You can sit at the chef’s table, look into the kitchen as Todd runs through a few different cooking techniques then sit in the dining room for a four-course meal. He cooks up something new each month, with poultry, seafood and shellfish already covered this year. This month is all about pork, while June is focused on Vegan dishes, and July (which Todd is especially looking forward to) is BBQ on the patio. Take a look here for more information on cooking demos!

We hope to see you at RCFM’s 5th Annual Fundraiser! Tickets are still available here.

Kitchen Sink Spinach Salad

March 22, 2011 By newwestfarmers

I often make the kind of standalone salads that are meals in themselves – I like to add stuff like eggs, nuts, seeds, and sometimes grilled meat for a heartier chew. I’ve recently started adding yummy treats like dried fruit and cheese. Spinach is coming up in season now and so here’s an idea you can run with: Kitchen Sink Spinach Salad. You don’t need to follow a recipe – just experiment with different combinations and throw in whatever you have that tickles your fancy. Spinach is more nutritious than lettuce and has a great flavour that really lends itself well to a lot of things. If you can’t stand that squeaky texture raw spinach has, consider serving your salad warm and wilt the spinach first. Almost all of these ingredients are available at the market. For a truly decadent salad, try making your own bacon bits. MMMMmmmmm. (Note: homemade bacon bits seem to taste best if you make them the night before).

Start with fresh spinach, washed and trimmed and torn into bite sized pieces if necessary. If you have a salad spinner, use it – the drier your spinach is, the better. Add your choice of: sliced hard boiled eggs, sliced white mushrooms, a handful of raw pumpkin seeds, a handful of sunflower seeds, a healthy handful of dried cranberries or blueberries, a few tomatoes chopped small, and feta or brie cheese crumbled.

As a dressing, you can whisk together: about a 1/2 cup -ish yogurt (we use plain) with a few tablespoons of lemon juice and high quality oil. Some people like to use mayonnaise instead of oil, but I find it is too thick. You can also add parsley, chives or dill or other fresh herbs and then add pepper and salt to taste.

YUM!

Ask and you shall receive.