Pickling Party

Posted on August 5, 2010 by realtimefarms

Earlier this week Cara and Karl hosted a pickling party, and each of the three couples in attendance brought supplies and ingredients to pickle a different vegetable.

I have been missing Japanese tsukemono (pickles), so my initial idea was to recreate those. However, since most of those pickles really only require a pickle press, salt, and time, I decided that they weren’t party worthy, and searched for a different method of pickling my eggplant (purchased from the Ann Arbor Farmers Market).

I settled on Berenjenas en Escabeche – marianated eggplant – or basically
almost instant eggplant pickles, based on this recipe. The recipe was easy, and although it isn’t suitable for canning, the eggplant is so tasty I doubt it will last very long in your fridge anyway. I think it would be delicious on crusty bread, but so far, I’m just enjoying it straight out of the jar on a fork!

The other selected pickles were dilly beans and bread and butter pickles, both recipes from Ball, and they can be found by clicking the links. Both of these took longer than mine did, but that is because we properly (and successfully!) canned them, so we’re all going to try our best to wait the suggested 4-6 weeks before opening them up and testing just how well we did with our first attempts at pickling!

Locally yours,

Lindsay-Jean

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Make Your Veggies Famous With Real Time Farms!

Posted on August 3, 2010 by realtimefarms

Today marks the launch of our “Make Your Veggies Famous” video! Click the link to watch it, after all, when is the last time you saw a skateboarding watermelon?!

This video kicks off our 5 photo campaign to get 5 photos of every farmers’ market and farm across the country, and we’d love your help! We’d really appreciate it if you would share this video with your friends and family so we can get everyone involved in building a nationwide, LIVE, local food guide full of colorful, engaging photos of what’s fresh now!

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Have You Tried: Kohlrabi?

Posted on August 2, 2010 by realtimefarms

What? You haven’t?? Holy Kohlrabi! Get thyself to a farmers market near you and pick up some kohlrabi! (Find out where you can get kohlrabi on Real Time Farms here).

Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family, it has a texture similar to broccoli stem crossed with a slightly spicy turnip and a crisp juicy apple (only not as sweet). It is roundish in shape (look for bulbs around the size of a tennis ball or smaller), should generally be peeled before using, and can either be eaten raw or cooked. We used two kolhrabis (top center of the photo below) for a delicious team lunch of veggie slaw inspired by a recipe given to Cara by a member of the Tantre Farm team.

As you can see, we used 4 small carrots, 3 larger carrots, 2 kolhrabis, 1 turnip, 4 small candy-striped beets, and a generous handful or two of roasted, salted sunflower seeds. Cara and Karl picked up all of these veggies from vendors at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, but you can search for all of these veggies and more here!

Grate all of the veggies on the large side of a box grater (or with a julienne attachment on your mandoline or food processor), or just chop up all of the veggies into little matchsticks.

Toss the grated veggies with a light dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper, and then fold in the sunflower seeds. Spoon some slaw into a bowl, eat, enjoy, and soon you’ll be saying Holy Kohlrabi too!!

Locally yours,

Lindsay-Jean

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Composting 101

Posted on July 28, 2010 by realtimefarms

What is composting?

“Composting is a process for converting decomposable organic materials into useful stable products” (thanks Wikipedia!). This mean that you can take your kitchen scraps and yard clippings, and turn them into a fertilizer-type soil additive to use on your garden, lawn, trees, or planter boxes.

Why should I compost?

If the free nutrients for your garden aren’t incentive enough, perhaps you’ll be motivated to compost knowing that it helps the environment. It’s been estimated that 13% of our nation’s trash is food, and once you add in yard clippings, that number jumps up to 20 or 30% (read more at Grist and OSU’s Composting Guide). That’s a lot of landfill space! It’s important to keep that out of landfills, because as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains, food and other organic waste materials aren’t exposed to any oxygen in landfills, so when they decompose, they produce methane, a greenhouse gas. And the EPA also notes that compost has a lot of other environmental benefits such as “improving soil health and structure, increasing drought resistance, as well as reducing, and even eliminating, the need for supplemental water, fertilizers, and pesticides” (read more from the EPA here).

What can I compost?

There are a number of lists online that guide you as to what yard waste, kitchen scraps, and household items work well in a compost pile. Check out the few I’ve listed below:

How do I get started composting?

I’ve found it helpful to read a lot of guides (like everything I’ve linked to above) and watch a lot of videos (like those I’ve put below) to get a better idea of how to get started composting and learn about what type of compost bin might work best for us.

And if you have any other questions, send an email to feedback@realtimefarms.com and the more experienced composters on our team will be happy to help you out!

Locally yours,

Lindsay-Jean

Annie Hauck-Lawson, associate professor at Brooklyn College and co-editor of Gastropolis: Food and New York City, has produced a number of helpful videos on composting to get you started. Check out the links below:

1) Intro to Composting – a better way to discard cooking scraps

2) Compost Bins to Buy & D.I.Y. Options

3) Compost Bin Maintenance

4) Composting Straw Fort and Cold Frame Part 1

5) Composting Straw Fort and Cold Frame Part 2

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Have You Tried: Cilantro?

Posted on July 16, 2010 by realtimefarms

Cilantro is one divisive little herb. People seem to love it or hate it, and with such strong feelings, I think newbies to cilantro can get scared off from even trying it. These recipes can be made heavy or light-handed on the cilantro, so it is a good way to ease into the herb.

Cilantro-haters, I truly understand, I used to think it tasted like soap too, but one day everything changed for me, and perhaps it will for you too, but until then, try these pasta recipes with a different herb that is more palate-pleasing, whether basil, dill, or a mixed variety.

I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with a garlicky cilantro dressing thanks to 101 Cookbooks’ recipe for a Cilantro Noodle Bowl. I made my version with green beans instead of the Romanesco, left out the tofu, and served it chilled. (Don’t forget to look on Real Time Farms to see where you can find cilantro, green beans, or anything else you have a hankering for near you!)

Only a few days later, I found myself craving the garlicky cilantro dressing again, and decide to make a warm pasta dish. I used roasted garlic linguine, and tossed it with sauteed zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, artichokes, and the garlicky cilantro dressing. This dressing is delicious hot or cold, and pares well with any vegetable that you like. Give it a try this weekend, and let us know what combinations you come up with!

Locally yours,

Lindsay-Jean

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It’s a Hot One! That calls for a Hot Pizza?!

Posted on July 13, 2010 by realtimefarms

Okay, so it may be a little strange to be baking a homemade pizza on a hot summer day, but I swear you won’t think it’s strange when you try this recipe for a Grilled Eggplant and Olive Pizza from Smitten Kitchen! (especially with a tall glass of cold beer or a maybe a raspberry spritzer…mmm…) 

Eggplant is just coming into season in certain parts of the country. In fact after a long wait, and a lot of lovingly hot weather, my eggplants on my rooftop deck are finally growing! You can find eggplant near you by entering “eggplant” in the search box on the front page of Real Time Farms (you can find at many places in and around Ann Arbor).

We decided to go the full monty and make the dough from scratch as well. I had never made pizza dough before, so Lindsay demonstrated how. I thought it might demand a certain amount of rocket science, but to my surprise it was actually immensely simple (the yeast does all the work for you!). Just remember to plan ahead, because the dough has to rise for 1-2 hours.

We figured, in order to feed our always voracious team, we should make 2 pizzas: one with eggplant and green olives and another as a spin off of the recipe with squash (given to us graciously by Blue Dog Greens) and kalamata olives. They were both delish (not a real word…but should be)!

I did learn as a hint that when cooking the summer squash and eggplant in the olive oil and garlic mixture, that it helps to add the garlic towards the end, so it doesn’t burn. But don’t skimp on the garlic when it comes time to add it, because it gives the pizza a sweet, onion like flavor you wouldn’t want to miss!

After you’ve rolled the dough, greased a pan, layed out the dough and all the yummy ingredients, your job is almost done…. You just have to pop it in the oven at 500 degrees for 10 minutes, and boom! (Insert ridiculous amounts of happiness)

Your loco local,

Cara

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Yes We Can Can!

Posted on June 28, 2010 by realtimefarms

With so many delicious fresh fruits and veggies available now at farmers markets (go to Real Time Farms to find one near you!), it is only natural to want to preserve some of the bounty for later enjoyment.

I’ve wanted to try canning for some time now, as has my sister-in-law, so we decided to test the waters together. We headed to Downtown Home & Garden to pick up supplies, and we got a bonus crash course in canning from owner Mark Hodesh and staff! Thanks to their encouragement, the right equipment, and bags full of delicious strawberries and rhubarb, we were ready to head home and get canning!

I wanted to try making a strawberry rhubarb butter, and my sis-in-law opted to stick with a classic strawberry jam. (Don’t forget to use Real Time Farms to see where you can find strawberries and rhubarb near you!) We found the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving to be really helpful – we read, re-read, and re-re-read the instructions to make sure we didn’t mess up along the way.

And how did we do? Well, the cans all sealed properly, and the jam and fruit butter look good, but I have to confess that I’m enjoying looking at the fruits of our labor (yes, bad pun intended!) too much to open one up. I’ll keep you updated when I do, and let us know if you have a favorite item to can or a canning recipe to share!

Locally yours,

Lindsay-Jean

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New Feature! Add a LIVE slideshow of your market to your website!

Posted on June 17, 2010 by realtimefarms

Add a  LIVE slideshow to your website of pictures posted to Real Time Farms of your market! 

Are you a farmers’ market manager, a blogger, or just a fresh, local food enthusiast? Would you like a LIVE feed slideshow of the images taken at your market on your own website?

YOU’RE IN LUCK!

Thanks to our new intern, Andy Kish, we now have html code that you can embed into your site (or for those like me who are less technologically savvy, that you can email to your webmaster) to create the slideshow on your site.

Here’s an example! 

See a screenshot below:

People can get a real feel of the people, the colors, and the seasonality of your market by seeing how it changes throughout the year and what is available right now! People will be inspired to add images because they know they will be instantly adding to not only the content on Real Time Farms, but to the content on your own site!

Help spread the word of your local market!

TO GET STARTED: 

1) Go to your market page (if you don’t have one, just create one)

2) Click “Embed a Slideshow” under your “Market Info” on the left side of the screen

3) Follow the instructions, and VOILA! As images are loaded, they will be added LIVE to your slideshow on your own website!

If you have any questions or comments, we are happy to answer them at feedback@realtimefarms.com.

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It’s Not Too Late!

Posted on June 11, 2010 by realtimefarms

Rhubarb has been out at farmers markets for a month now, but you should still be able to find it. Check here on Real Time Farms to see where it has been available lately, so you can plan where to pick some up this weekend.

I’d suggest making these rustic rhubarb tarts, and I think the rest of the Real Time Farms team would agree with me after enjoying them for breakfast one morning this week.

I tweaked the recipe slightly, and just used more corn flour instead of the fine cornmeal, and it still worked perfect. They are delicious warm with a little greek yogurt or even vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Locally yours,

Lindsay-Jean

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Have You Tried: Garlic Scapes?

Posted on June 8, 2010 by realtimefarms

Garlic scapes are the thin stalks that grow up out of hardneck garlic. The stalks would flower if left to grow, but they are generally removed by farmers and gardeners so the garlic bulb is able to continue developing. Their removal is good for the garlic, but it is also good for you, as these firm curly stalks are tasty! I think the texture is similar to a raw green bean or stalk of asparagus, and the mellow garlic flavor complements a number of dishes.

I was inspired by Love and Olive Oil’s Beet Green and Garlic Scape Bruschetta, and decided to meld those flavors into a salad.

Israeli Couscous with Beet Greens and Garlic Scapes

  • 3/4 C Israeli couscous prepared according to package directions and set aside (I used whole wheat)
  • 1 bunch of beet greens, stems removed, leaves washed and chopped
  • 4 garlic scapes, chopped
  • handful of black olives, chopped (yes, my olives appear to be green, but their taste is closest to black, so that is what I would recommend)
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Add a little olive oil to a pan, and saute the garlic scapes for 3 minutes or so. Add in the beet greens and saute until greens are just wilted. Remove from heat, add the mixture and the olives to the couscous and toss to combine (my couscous got a fun pink tint from the beet greens!). Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

I liked this simple salad as is, but it would be an easy salad to dress up with some chunks of feta or maybe a zesty lemon herb dressing. Enjoy!

Need more inspiration for what to do with your garlic scapes? Try one of these:

Locally yours,

Lindsay-Jean

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