2011 winner

The Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market Board of Directors is holding its second annual poster contest to promote the outdoor market’s 2012 season. Entries for the poster competition are due by 5 pm Friday, March 9. Whether you’re a student studying the arts, a professional graphic designer or just someone with a creative streak, you’re invited to submit your design for an 11×17-inch color poster that accurately reflects the feel of the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market.

All entries should contain—but are not limited to— he following copy content:

Taste & Tradition

Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market

May 12 – Dec. 22, 2012

Open Every Saturday, 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.

Always Fresh, Always Seasonal, Always Local

• Fruits • Vegetables • Baked Goods • Organics • Fresh Meat • Cut Flowers • Wine • Eggs • Dairy • Honey • Cheese • Much More

Corner of Elmwood & Bidwell, Buffalo

www.elmwoodmarket.org

The art and concept should reflect the overall values of the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market. It’s important to remember that all products sold at the market are grown or produced within the eight counties of Western New York.

All entries must be submitted electronically to: jkirchmyer@verizon.net. Entries will be judged by the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market Board of Directors, and the winner will be announced on the market’s website (www.elmwoodmarket.org) and Facebook page.

The winning artist will receive a $100 cash prize. The winning entry will also be on display at the market throughout the 2012 season.

Early morning start of a snowy harvest of Chambourcin ice wine grapes, overlooking Lake Erie

Last week, for a brief, but important period, the weather was perfect for ice wine harvest: nice gray skies with temperatures hovering between 14 and 16 degrees Fahrenheit and a tranquil layer of snow on the ground. At Johnson Estate in Westfield, NY, a hardy band of about twenty hand-harvested nearly seven tons of excellent quality Vidal and Chambourcin grapes, air-stacking the perforated crates in the vineyards to take advantage of the seven degree evening forecast which would insure that the grapes were icy marbles prior to pressing. With forecasts of warmer weather to come, this harvest took advantage of a small, but critical, window of harvesting opportunity, for if not harvested when frozen, ice wine grapes thereafter are mushy and not usable.

Generally it takes 48 hours of temperatures in the teens to fully ready the Vidal and Chambourcin grapes still hanging on now leafless vines for this unique winter harvest. The frozen grapes are pressed, leaving behind much of the pure water in the form of ice crystals, and producing a nectar-sweet, complex juice that is fermented into a delicious and expensive dessert wine. Ice wines have a long tradition in Austria and Germany and the technique was brought to North America by the Canadians in the 1980′s. Today, Johnson Estate produces two types of ice wines, one from Vidal grapes and a rare, red one from Chambourcin grapes. Both types of wines regularly win awards from different competitions as well as ratings of “Exceptional” (2007 Vidal) and “Highly Recommended” (2009 Chambourcin) ratings from the Beverage Testing Institute.

Johnson Estate Winery, New York’s oldest estate winery, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011. It is located two miles of Westfield, NY and its renovated tasting room is open year-round. During January and February, the tasting room is open from 10-5 pm during the week and 10-6 pm on Friday and Saturday. The winery specializes in award-winning cold climate wines, including ice wines, Riesling, and other vinifera and American grape wines. More information is available at www.johnsonwinery.com or by calling 800-Drink-NY (800-374-6569).

Laura Anhalt’s New Cookbook is Drawing Travelers to Homeland

Laura Anhalt moved to Buffalo, NY from Mexico City 11 years ago. En route to Canada with her husband and children, she discovered the City of Good Neighbors and decided to stay, raise her family and develop her English writing skills.

Last year she published her first cookbook Mexican Flavors: A Journey Inspired by the Folklore and Traditions of Mexican Cuisines. Over 300 pages are chock-full of ancient recipes, beautiful full-color photographs, and stories that make it more than just a collection of dishes to serve at the dinner table; it really is a love story to family, tradition and culture.

“I found it was hard to write about the past, especially family traditions but when I started to write, I realized these stories needed to be told to my four children,” Anhalt said. “Food is apart of those tales.”

Starting with four different, canvas-bound journals, one for each of her children, Anhalt began Mexican Flavors with handwritten notes. From a free-spirited daughter, to a son that is proud of his heritage, and a youngest child that is a traveler like her, Anhalt picked recipes she knew they would have a strong connection to.

“One of my daughters is like a flower, gentle. I have a son that has a strong connection to the motherland, he tends to find Mexico in everyone; and he likes chiles, tacos and salsa, so of course they can be found in the book,” Anhalt said. “My youngest likes and finds excitement in new culture and food.”

Black Mole Poblano with Chicken or Turkey is a dish for All Saints Day; Rice with Vanilla, Fried Mashed Bananas, Raisins, and Rum for a side dish; Red Salsa made in a Molcajete; Avocado Stuffed with Pork Rind Salad, and also find a recipe for a Mexican Wedding Cake under Sweet Delicacies and Desserts.

Foodies, cooks and those that love Mexican food and culture aren’t the only ones picking up Mexican Flavors. After a family friend, who is the former Secretary of Tourism in Mexico, got a hold of the hardcover book, she showed it to former colleagues. From one hand to another, a copy of the book will soon be found in every Mexican embassy in the world.

“Some of these recipes are 2,000 years old; you flip the tortillas the very same way today,” Anhalt said. “Combined with modern day customs, Mexican Flavors is about faith and humanity, and now it has the potential to touch lives.

“It’s not bound by just food or tradition, but family stories that travel . . . I am so happy.”

Mexican Flavors: A Journey Inspired by the Folklore and Traditions of Mexican Cuisines is available wherever fine books are sold.

Author Laura Anhalt is also co-owner of A Taste of the World, a gourmet sauce manufacturing business dedicated to bringing the flavors from around the world to the tables of Western New York. She is also a contributor to edible Buffalo magazine and resides in Buffalo, New York.

On Christmas Eve a fish head reared its ugly head, until I became of age to make a dish to pass at the family party. Historically, in a traditional Italian family, young women do not receive heirlooms until they marry and recipes are handed to them gradually.

Being an independent signorina, I’ve never felt comfortable with the former and because of my profession and constant entertaining; family recipes have gradually been turned over to me throughout the years.

Besides the traditional sauce recipe that did not need to be touched, the Feast of the Seven Fishes required some tweaking. Below is the Americanized, third generation version of my family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner (or at least one piece of it).

 Fish Stew

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 onion, chopped

2 tsp salt

4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

¾ teaspoon dried Indian crushed red pepper flakes

¼ cup tomato paste

1 (28-z) can diced tomatoes in juice

1-½ cups dry white wine

32 oz fish stock

1 bay leaf

1 lb Little Neck clams, scrubbed

1 lb mussels, scrubbed, debearded

1 lb uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1-½ lbs assorted firm-fleshed fish fillets of halibut and salmon, cut into 2 -inch chunks

Old Bay seasoning

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and salt and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ¾ teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

It may smell a little too alcoholic but the wine will burn off.

Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the clams and mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes. De veining shrimp can be a bit of a process. With one foot on the garbage bin and the other maneuvering a paring knife (debatable, but works for me) over the sink as you remove the veins. Season the shrimp with the Old Bay and remove the skin from the fish. Add the seafood. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any of the shell fish that did no open). Season the soup, to taste, with salt.

At a recent meeting of the Cooka Nostra of Western New York (a well known cookbook club) member Julia Lavarnway brought her Southern Baked Corn, a dish that’s a favorite at her family’s table (and now her Buffalo, NY friends).

Southern Baked Corn

8.5 oz Jiffy corn muffin mix

17 oz can of cream corn

17 oz can of whole corn (undrained)

2 eggs beaten

8 oz sour cream (fat free)

1 cup of melted butter

Mix everything in a 9×13 (a 10×10 also works) lightly greased pan. Bake on 350 for 1 hr 15 min. or until golden brown on top.

Delish!

From I get tired of the meat-veggie-starch dinner. It is functional but boring. Like a pair of good walking shoes. They get you where you need to go, but you don’t look very good once you get there. (or on the way, actually, continuing this pathetic metaphor). That kind of dinner is boring to make as well as eat. I am a COOK. I like to try new things, use my tools and be inspired by my food. Most weeks, I try to mix in something that is a little more exciting than the classic three part meat dinner and on occasion, I end up with something really terrific. This was one of those weeks. This dinner was the first time in ages that I have sat down at the table and said “I have to take a picture of my food. This is so good.”

This dish is not something that fits into the “healthy eating” category of my recipe book, but it really is worth the splurge. I use homemade pastry here. It is easy and really worth it. Of course you can buy a pastry dough, but why not just try to make it? If it fails, grab your backup out of the fridge, but if it works, you will not regret the (small) effort required.

Mike summed it up perfectly: “I want to go to the city where this is the street food.”

Amen.

Sausage Spinach Asiago Turnovers

Pastry dough
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 stick of butter, frozen or very cold
Ice water

Filling
1 medium sweet onion, chopped (1-1/2 to 2 cups)
1 lb sweet chicken Italian sausage (use patties or remove the casing from links)
1/2 lb frozen cut leaf spinach, thawed
2/3 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning

Egg wash
1 egg
2 tbsp milk

Make the pastry. Cut the butter into pebble size chunks. In a food processor combine the butter and flour. Pulse until the butter is pea sized or smaller. Very slowly, add ice water with the processor running. As soon as the dough comes together to form a ball, stop processing. (It should happen around 3 Tablespoons of water). Remove the dough, form into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Make the filling. While the pastry is resting, in a large fry pan, sauté the onion until tender. Add the sausage and cook through, breaking up with a spoon. Remove to a bowl to cool.

Squeeze the spinach out with your hands to remove as much water as possible. Add to the sausage mixture. Once the mixture is fairly cool, add the cottage cheese, asiago, pepper, nutmeg, and Italian seasoning. Stir well to combine.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Assemble the turnovers. Cut the pastry into five pieces and roll each out into a circle.* Mine ended up being about 8 inches in diameter and less than 1/8 inch thick. Place the pastry on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Position them as you would like them to be for baking. You don’t want to try to move them once they are filled. Pile filling in the middle of the pastry and carefully fold the pastry over to create a turnover. Match the edges up and roll them in to seal. You can crimp these with a fork to ensure that they are sealed. You really don’t want the pastry to break or to seep your yummy filling out onto your cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining 4 pieces of pastry.

Whisk the egg and milk together in a small dish. Brush over the top of the pastry.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Serves 5

Pumpkin Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal serving 4

I love baked oatmeal. It’s such a hearty, filling breakfast and it’s so versatile. The possibilities for tasty toppings and fillings are endless, but the combination of pumpkin, dried cranberries and apples was so perfect and comforting for Fall. The Autumn flavors blended perfectly and a serving for breakfast kept me full all morning. If you try this and love it (or if this flavor combination just isn’t up your alley), make sure you also try my Baked Blueberry Peach Oatmeal! I eat my baked oatmeal plain but a lot of people like it with some warm milk poured over the top, which makes it extra moist. However you prefer to serve it, this is a perfect set of flavors for Fall and you can bake it once and have breakfast all week! (Plus it will make your kitchen smell incredible while it’s baking)

Source: Adapted from My Kitchen Addiction

Pumpkin Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal serving 1

Ingredients:
2 c old-fashioned oats
1/3 c wheat germ
1/3 c packed brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
¼ t salt
1 t baking powder
½ c dried cranberries
1 ½ c skim milk
½ c canned pumpkin
1 ½ T unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 t vanilla extract
1 c apples, chopped
1/3 c chopped pecans

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly mist a 7 x 11 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and cranberries and stir to mix. In a separate bowl, stir together the milk, pumpkin, egg and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients and apples to the dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle the pecans over the top and bake for 20 minutes until top is golden. Slice into eight pieces and serve.

Yields 8 servings. WW P+:  6 per serving

The Locavore challenge starts with the theory “vote with your dollar,” and takes it a few steps further. Participants will be supporting both local economy and encouraging organic and sustainable growing practices. Every dollar spent on food goes to local farms and businesses, and every social action made helps to make a louder voice to representatives about in the farm-to-table movement. The goal is for 5,000 people to join.

The challenge is customizable. Choose a level and mini-challenges, which can be in a specific community, according to the team’s schedule. Even writing a letter, clicking Like on Facebook, or trying just one new local organic food item during September, helps your favorite farm.

The options are:

Bite-Sized (3 mini-challenges),

Meal-Sized (6 mini-challenges) or a

Feast-Sized  (9 mini-challenges).

Then choose mini-challenges (just 1, 2, or 3 from each category depending upon commitment level) from these categories: Grow, Cook, Eat; Join the Movement; and Take Action.

Registration FREE and is available online at www.NYLocavoreChallenge.com or by calling the NOFA-NY office at 585-271-1979 ext. 512.