May Seasonal Eats

It’s finally, really, Spring going on Summer here in the Hudson Valley. Last weekend I planted my vegetable box. Of the illustrations above only beets went in as seeds a few weeks prior and I’m already seeing the tops of the leaves. Few things planted as seeds that I started or sowed directly in the soil, the rest I had to buy small plants. My seeds starter kit didn’t do so well when I took it outside for a while, it was still too cold at night and scared the seeds. Farm lesson learning number #537.

People really love Rhubarb up here and probably everywhere except my household. I watched an older gentleman in the store meticulously pick out his Rhubarb leaves. I so wanted to ask what he was making, though I doubt I would have tried it. Have you watched Zoe Eats or own any of her cookbooks? The only episode on Discovery+ right now is her making a Rhubarb pie. I was almost sold on that. We shall see.

My neighbors found some wild mushrooms growing in their part of the yard, they looked like Morels, and while they are adventurous outdoor people who forage for wild mushrooms, I wasn’t brave enough to try them. It stems back from my first advertising job where I had to research mushroom names and what was poisonous and what wasn’t. After seeing how similar they looked I vowed to leave it to the groceries stores. Y

Yet another thing to explore given forever in the future, that along with growing vanilla beans and harvesting my grapes and tending my orchard. Yeah my farming list is long and grows everyday. That and my artistic endeavours. Enjoy the beginning of the planting and growing season.

November Seasonal Eats

Is bread a seasonal eat? Because that’s what I did for the month of November. I ate lots and lots of bread. Traditonally Rob and I like to call in NoBreadmer. Which means no bread for 30 days. Yeah we did the opposite. Oh Boy.

Originally I creating these seasonal eat explorations because we had moved to an agricultural area in Central California. On any given day during the summer you would see trucks full of tomatoes and garlic barely down the 99. Driving the country roads were the migrant workers hauling in the sweet potato crops, or the infamous dust bowl created by the shaking of the almond trees. Everytime we’d drive down one of these roads and I see a new tree and stop the car to get a closer look. I saw a pistachio tree for the first time on rural country road. Walnut trees in huge groves. It was inspiring to see the variety. Oddly enough there were no great farmer stands out there. All the good stuff was shipped to the cities and restaurants through out California and beyond.

We take these moments for granted. While the triple digit heat in the summer and the dusty cloud of farming settled in the area, it’s what started this whole adventure. Now I’m nearly 3,000 miles in the opposite direction. Struggling to make myself eat anything other than the comfort of bread.

I recently read about an ad campaign in the UK to get kids to eat their vegetables. It’s called Veg Power. It’s unconventional approach to getting kids, and aaaheeem, some adults to eat more veg. Props to Adam + Eve/DDB for creating this brillant idea that also saw a massive increase in vegetable sales in 2020. I mean this is the year of the Sourdough starter. In their words “We created a daring counter-intuitive idea targeted at children and their parents. The idea: vegetables are trying to take over the world and the only way to beat them is to eat them. Casting them as evil, created a fun, distinctive, humorous campaign.”

Brillant. Let’s see if I can trick myself into eating more veg. Call it my 70’s childhood where mom boiled everything to it’s oblivion and i just never developed a love for them. Other than my grandma letting me plant my own radish patch, which i remember so fondly, vegetables were evil and I never thought that eating them would make be a motto “eat to defeat.” Here’s to Veg Power!!!

September Season Eats

It’s already September 2020. Where did 2020 go? Down in history we all hope. It’s been the longest and shortest year all at the same time. I live in a new area since I last posted in February 2019. Since that time we have moved from the West Coast to the East Coast. It might as well be another continent. I’m still figuring out the seasons, literally, and what is available that’s locally grown. There are a couple of great stores here that sell locally grown fruit and vegatables. My shopping expeditions are limited, due to this pandemic situation, for those reading this in 2030 (I so hope your not reading this in 2030), it’s the COVID Pandemic of 2020, let’s hope it doesn’t last too much past this nutty year.

I’ve not explored past my regular supermarket, here it’s called Hannefords, and an occasional hour drive to Trader Joes. Of the images above i think i’m most likely to explore the figs the most. But I’m kind of craving something simple with melon and proscuitto. That’s always a good sweet and savory combo. I love pomegranites and hope to secure some, last year i was gifted quite a few, I know they aren’t cheap to buy, so let’s see if these even grow well on the east coast.

Do you find when you move that your a little stunted in the cooking area? I’ve moved twice in the past 5 years and both times I just forgot what I use to make. Moving here to New York, completely stumped us. It took my friend visiting in October (that would be about 5 months after moving here) to figure out what to make. She really helped me get out of the cooking rut. That’s not to say we don’t OFTEN go to our regular taco mode, super easy and simple to make. But i did start dusting off my cookbooks and we shared a few recipes to get us in the mode.

Then the Pandemic. Oy vey, I need to write a post on all the baking I did. To my defense it was still winter here in New York, my favorite time to bake. Although the heat never stopped me either. I’ll write all about the hard recipes I tried, i feel like I really pushed myself out of my cooking funk. In the meantime, let’s celebrate what we CAN do and that’s eat locally grown foods. Try and find out what’s fresh and in season in your area and act like your on “Chopped” open that basket and use your creativity to make something delicious. Enjoy Fall or Autumn, depending on where you live. This is my second favorite time of year after Spring. It’s the changing of the seasons I love. And Fall in New York is amazing.

January Seasonal Eats

About three years ago I moved from Southern California to Central California. I’m in a very agricultural area where about 90% of the food consumed in California is grown here. Due to the lack of farm to table (go figure) restaurants in the area I have been cooking and baking more. Just about 3 years ago I started monthly drawings of fruit and vegetables that were in season. Many of them cross over into more than just one month. However, I chose those of which I would like to know more about, use in recipes, and generally want to challenge myself in understanding what we eat and where it comes from. #whereyourfoodgrows

In January and February what I saw in the grocery store were Pears. I grabbed four different Pears, one of which is shown in this months drawing. Which one do I like, what’s the difference other than color, which would work for what kind of recipe. So here are my amateur notes on this exploration and a great resource https://usapears.org where i found much of the history of Pears.

Bosc (BAHsk) Drawn above have a curved stem and elongated neck that widens gradually to a full rounded base creates that is unique among pears. Bosc colors look like warm cinnamon brown with deep rusts on the surface of the skin. Many artists use these type of pears in their still life paintings, which is probably why I was drawn to including it in this months watercolor.

Bosc pears have a more firm and are ideal for use in baking, broiling or poaching. I found their consistency dense but flavor very sweet.

It remains a matter of contention whether Bosc are of Belgium or French origin. Bosc Pears were discovered sometime in the early 1800's. Some refer to them as Beurré Bosc which means "buttery" and named after M. Bosc who was the director of the Paris Botanical Garden.

In the United States the variety was first planted in 1832 or 1833, and those trees first bore fruit in 1836. The first plantings were done in the eastern U.S., on large estate orchards and later commercial orchards. Bosc are grown largely in the Northwest, these trees seem to thrive best in the soil and climate of the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington. (source USpears.org)

Bartlett ( BART-let) carries a true "pear shape:" a rounded bell on the bottom half of the fruit. Bartlett’s often found in local grocery stores are green, they change to yellow as they ripen at home when left at room temperature.

Sliced Bartlett on top of a green salad with your favorite dressing or freshly sliced wedges with cheese for an appetizing snack. Any recipe calling for apples can be made using fresh pears. I found these much softer than the bosc pear and more of a champagne taste.

The variety of pears were discovered originally in 1765 by a schoolmaster in England named Mr. Stair, the Bartlett was first referred to as Stair's Pear. A nurseryman named Williams later acquired the variety, and after introducing it to the rest of England, the pear became known as the Williams Pear. Around 1799, Mr. James Carter imported several Williams trees to the United States, and they were planted on the grounds of Thomas Brewer in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Later, Enoch Bartlett of Dorchester, Massachusetts acquired the Brewer estate. Not knowing the identity of the trees, Bartlett propagated and introduced the variety to the United States under his own name. It was not until 1828, when new trees arrived from Europe, that it was realized that Bartlett and Williams pears were one in the same. By then it was too late... the variety had become widely popular in the U.S. under its adopted name: the Bartlett. (source USpears.org)

D’Anjou (ON-ju) D’Anjou, also know as d'Anjou pears are thought to have originated in Belgium, and they are named after the Anjou region in France. The variety was introduced to England early in the 19th century. Called Beurré d' Anjou, they were introduced to America in about 1842.  They are recognizable for their egg-shaped appearance, having a larger spherical lower portion that begins a gradual taper above the mid-point to a narrower rounded top. Their skin color is bright green, and sometimes has a soft red blush.

The Anjou is an all-purpose pear. They are juicy when ripe, with a hint of lemon-lime flavor. They hold up well in baking, poaching, roasting, or grilling and they are delicious when sliced fresh in salads or eaten as a snack. This pear was sweet with almost an apple taste to them

Red D’Anjou (ON-ju) Recognizable for their egg-shaped appearance, having a larger round lower portion that taper above the mid-point to a narrower rounded top, like an egg. The color of Red Anjous varies from pear to pear, however, they are generally dark maroon in color, sometimes with light vertical streaks of color that were naturally created by the sun while the pear was still on the tree. The red D’Anjou was more grainy in texture then the green version.

I’ve made Pear Clafoutis before and usually use the the Bartlett or D’Anjou Pears for those. Its a simple recipe and delicious. I can’t remember which recipe I used for the version above, but I love the layout of the fruit compared to ones i see online. Ina likes to add Pear brandy and Martha likes to add dried cherry’s. You can’t go wrong with either of their recipes and Epicurious has a great one to.

However you eat your pears, enjoy their flavors and texture and consume them with your favorites. Pastry wrapped pears with vanilla ice cream and drizzled chocolate, sliced on a salad, poached in a wine sauce, or simply sliced over a salad or a snack with some sharp cheddar cheese. Enjoy!