Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients

1-3 bunch(es) garlic scapes (20 or so)
1/2 cup pine nuts (toasted) (use almonds, walnuts or toasted sunflower seeds as a pine nut replacement)
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions
In the work bowl of a food processor add the garlic scapes, pine nuts and Parmesan and process until finely chopped. With the processor running, slowly add the olive oil. Keep adding until the pesto is the desired consistency—I like it to be a fairly thick paste. Add the salt, pepper and lemon juice, process until mixed. Taste and check for seasoning.

Notes: if the garlic taste is too strong for you, add some coarsely chopped parsley to tone it down. You can also substitute almonds or walnuts for the pine nuts. Toasting the nuts always brings out their flavor. Besides the traditional basil pesto, a mix of arugula and basil with a bit more lemon juice is delicious.

Add to pasta, eat with shrimp, sugar snap peas or other crudites, add to thicken and flavor soup. Eat by the spoonful!

Sugar SNAP Peas!

Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas
Adapted from Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon Morrell
Sugar snap peas are a delight. They’re quick to prepare and add an irresistibly sweet crunch to your meal!

1 pound sugar snap peas, ends and string removed (may substitute snow peas)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or pork lard
1 bunch green onions, cut into one-inch pieces
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, lightly toasted in oven
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil (optional)
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Stir fry onions and peas in olive oil or pork lard for about 3 minutes. Add sesame seeds and optional pine nuts, stir frying another minute. Remove from heat and stir in optional toasted sesame oil. Season to taste and serve warm.

(Red, White) and BLUE Burgers

Fire up that grill! Nothing more American than some local burgers. Happy almost Memorial Day Weekend to one and all!

adapted from Good Meat, Debra Krasner

Serves 4

1 pound ground grass-fed and finished beef

Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Approximately ¼ pound blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola, Stilton, or Maytag (also, try substituting your other favorite sharp-flavored cheeses like cheddar, Asiago, etc.), made from grass-fed milk.

Combine meat with salt and pepper. Form into four balls, taking care not to overwork the mixture. Poke a hole in each ball, insert a small piece of the cheese, and seal the cheese inside the burger by pinching the meat back over it.

Heat a dry, seasoned, cast-iron skillet, over medium heat, until the edges of the pan are hot to a glancing touch. Immediately reduce to low heat and add the patties to the pan. Cook the patties slowly and gently until browned (about 4 minutes on each side). Better yet, fire up that grill!

Serve immediately, with rolls or atop raw or cooked greens.

Sweet and Tangy Rhubarb Simmer with Whipped Cream

Adapted from Nourishing Traditions, Revised Second Edition, Sally Fallon Morrell

6 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon powdered ginger*, or to taste
Approximately ½ cup water
½ to ¾ cup raw honey, or to taste

2 cups heavy cream
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste

Place rhubarb, ginger, and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook about 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until rhubarb is broken down. Allow to cool and stir in honey to taste. In a chilled bowl, whip cream and maple syrup until peaks stiffen.
* Stay tuned for fresh, Maine-grown ginger later this season. Be sure to freeze or can a batch of rhubarb to try the recipe with Maine’s own ginger crop!

Bountiful Spring Salad- Eat Your Greens!

Makes approximately 4 servings

1 head leaf lettuce of your choice (also, try substituting 1 bag baby lettuce)
1 bag spinach or baby spinach
¼ – ½ bag arugula (also, try substituting ¼ – ½ bag baby kale)
1 large green onion
2-3 sprigs fresh peppermint, or to taste (also, try substituting other fresh herbs like spearmint, parsley, cilantro, etc.)
For dressing:
1 tsp dried, ground mustard
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/3 c olive oil (also, try substituting a Maine-produced oil like sunflower or canola)
1. Wash and dry greens, herbs, and green onion. If necessary, tear greens into bite-size pieces; coarsely chop herbs; thinly slice green onion; and place all in a salad bowl.
2. Put dressing ingredients in jar with tight-fitting lid and shake well.
3. Pour dressing over salad; toss to coat. Serve at once.

Recipe contributed by Two Farmers’ Farm, Durham . Thanks Kelsey and Dominic!

You can contribute your seasonal, Maine recipes, too! Email them to colleen@mffm.org and let us know where you attend market.

Fiddlehead Quiche

Before making any recipe with fiddleheads, first clean and parboil them. If necessary, cut off any brown from the ends of the fiddlehead (this should not be a problem if they are freshly foraged!). Remove any excess fern-matter (yes, that is a scientific term) from the sides of the fiddleheads. Bring a pot of water to a rapid boil. Throw cleaned fiddleheads in the water for 30 seconds. Drain in colander and run cold water over the fiddleheads.

Fiddlehead Quiche
Serves 6. Takes about 1 1/2 hrs. or 45 minutes if you ditch the crust (in other words, make a frittata)

1 pie shell
4 Tbs butter
2 cups fiddleheads (cleaned and parboiled)
1 onion (thinly sliced)
6 eggs
2 cups gruyere, cheddar of other sharp cheese
2 cups half and half
6 strips of bacon
Salt, pepper, herbs, garlic, to taste

Preheat the oven to 425. Use a fork to prick holes in the pie crust. Weigh down the crust so it does not rise during baking. Bake crust for 10-12 minutes. Turn oven down to 325.

Cook bacon in skillet over medium heat. Remove bacon. Sautee onion and garlic in bacon fat

Line pie crust with bacon.

Beat the eggs, 1/2 & 1/2, onions, fiddleheads and cheese together. Pour mixture into pie shell over bacon (mixture should come right to the top of the crust).

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until you can stick a knife in the middle and it comes out clean.

Peacemeal Farm in Dixmont Keeps it Sweet & Simple with Spring Parsnips…

Need a simple side dish? When we asked Peacemeal Farm the best way to prepare their sweet, spring parsnips. They responded:

“This simple recipe is especially suited to the spring dug parsnips, which are far superior in flavor and sweetness to those dug in the fall…peel, slice and saute in butter.” -Marcia and Mark, Peacemeal Farm

Sweet and simple.

Find Peacemeal’s parsnips here for $2.99/# (price may vary):

Orono, Belfast, Camden and Waterville Farmers’ Markets.

OR

On-farm Stand Hours: Thursdays 2 pm to 6 pm, June thru October

Smoked Trout Hash (or how to use up those storage potatoes and onions)

A breakfast to keep you going until lunch.

Description: Smoked trout hash with a sunny side up egg, english muffins with chèvre and sriracha and a side of sauerkraut

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 potatoes-diced (Groundwork Farm, Kennebunk Market)

4 kale leaves or 2 generous handfuls of baby kale (or other early green)

1 onion (Grassland Farm, Skowhegan Market)

3 eggs (One Drop Farm, Skowhegan Market)

4 Tbs. butter

6 oz. smoked trout (skinned and shredded) (Ducktrap)

2 Tbs. heavy cream or milk (Goranson Farm, Portland, Damariscotta and Bath Markets)

3 oz. chèvre (Appleton Creamery, Bath, Belfast, Camden, Damariscotta, Orono & Rockland Markets)

2 side servings of sauerkraut (Thirty Acre Farm, Portland Market)

Garlic (storage- Groundwork Farm, Kennebunk Market), salt, pepper and herbs to taste

2 English muffins (homemade)

Sriracha- to taste (China!!!)

1. Heat butter in a cast iron skillet over medium to high heat. Add potatoes; cook, flipping potatoes as needed, until lightly browned… about 10 minutes.

2. Chop and add onions to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften, about 10 minutes.

3. Beat 1 egg, heavy cream, 2 oz. of chevre and garlic in a bowl until mixed. Reduce heat of skillet and add mixture, stirring rapidly.  Once mixture is added in, increase heat back to medium-high. Add shredded smoked trout at this time.

4. Flip hash every couple of minutes. Cook for an additional 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

5.  Reduce heat to medium-low. Add kale and stir in as necessary. This is a good time to crack those eggs and fry them in a separate frying pan. Pop those english muffins into the toaster at this time, as well.

4. Divide hash, eggs and english muffins between 2 plates. Add chèvre and sriracha to english muffins. Spoon a healthy serving of sauerkraut or kimchi on the side.

Hello world!

And thus the journey begins…

As I travel to farmers’ markets in Maine I’ll be documenting meals prepared with ingredients procured. My hope is that you will send along your favorite seasonal recipes, as well (please email colleen@mffm.org).

Please feel free to share this blog with your friends, family and customers (whether farmers’ market, CSA or other).

Cheers!

Colleen Hanlon-Smith
Executive Director
Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets