higher and higher and higher

here’s an update for the chanterelles i purchased from The Garden @ Becky Lane booth at the Argenta Farmers Market on saturday. remember that mushroom brush you never, ever use? well, dig it out. first, cut the tough, dirty root end off the ‘shrooms. now, rinse (yes, i said rinse) the chanterelles under cold running water while using that forgotten mushroom brush, dragging the dirt away from the mushroom. place the rinsed chanterelles, trumpet facing down, on a dry dish towel. now you’re ready to do an infinite number of yummy things to ‘em. cut the large chanterelles in 1/2 and leave the smaller ones whole. the pieces will look large, but they shrink considerably as they cook. here’s how i prepared them; sauté chanterelles in 1 tablespoon of butter, using tongs to gently turn them & cooking long enough to allow them to soften, about 4-5 minutes on medium high heat. add salt, a smidge of cayenne & some finely ground pepper (you can use white pepper) and a 1/2 clove of garlic. sauté the garlic for less than 30 seconds. add a splash of cognac (white wine or sherry is a-ok) to finish it, cook off the alcohol, about another minute or two. that’s it, ugly betty. this makes for an excellent side dish or serve on top of toast for a lovely brunch or lunch. heap on toasted baguette rounds for a spectacular crostini appetizer. the options are really endless. the idea is to showcase the chanterelles and not bury them in some soup or other convoluted recipe. i tried the ‘chew 30 times’ rule to savor the deliciousness, after all, this could be considered a decadent lunch at $7.50 a quart, but, trust me, well, well, worth it. go buy some.

The Garden @ Becky Lane
Argenta Farmers Market
Tuesdays & Saturdays 7-noon

Heirloom Tomato Pizza or get off your lazy ass

the best pizza ever. yeah, i said it. last week i found myself in a hail storm in northwest arkansas, before that hail hit i did some shopping at Ranalli Farms Produce and Bakery in Tontitown and bought some great heirloom tomatoes. yesterday, at the Argenta Farmers Market, i picked up pizza crusts, which are sold 2 to a pack for $4. these pre-baked crusts are not your run of the mill bland pizza crust, these have a distinctive sweet flavor. i topped this pizza with a green and a red heirloom tomato from Ranalli Farms, added crushed garlic from Vang Family farm stand at the River Market and a fresh mozzarella cheese ball from Boulevard Bread and baked it at 500℉ for a mere 6 minutes. i topped it off with a few shakes of hot pepper flakes and a couple stolen basil leaves from a nearby community garden. yeah, it's super quick, super delicious and super easy. do it.

Ranalli Farms Produce & Bakery
1960 W. Henri de Tonti Blvd.
Tontitown, AR 72762

479.361.1313

Chanterelles from Fun Guy Sam

chanterelle mushrooms. i picked these up at the Argenta Famers Market this morning from The Garden @ Becky Lane booth. Sam tells me that they grow naturally under the hickory trees on his park like property. i haven't had my culinary vision yet on how i will use these but will keep you posted.

that's a quarter not a dime or 14" of embarrassment

i am a regular at the local farmer's market. finishing up this week's visit, most of my bounty was tucked safely in a Little Rock Recycles bag, except for the zuc (pictured). at 14" and a potential tomato squisher, i opted to carry it when i heard: "that is embarrassing." i looked at the scruffy, ruggedly handsome farmer squinting & piercing my purchase with his blue eyes. my first thought was "yeah, embarrassing b/c you are juvenile and, well, yeah, ok, this is phallic." normally, i would quip a dirty remark & keep going, but, instead, i stopped and asked him if he was speaking of my newly purchased zucchini that the farmer down the way, let me "have" for a mere buck. he said "yes, that is an embarrassment, when i was little my dad boxed all the big ones up and sold the whole box for $1, calling them double Ds. i didn't know what double Ds were then". i gathered from our conversation, or rather his rant, this variety of zucchini will grow too large from, uh, garden neglect. an average sized zucchini of this type should be plucked from the vine at 5-6 inches. letting one grow to say, 14 inches (like above) is, well, a garden mishap. with that one sentence, blue eyes turned my cheap eats into a farmer's market rip off. i scratched my head and turned toward my car & blue eyes had one last piece of advice for me: "if you are using that for bread, you can still use the small ones, that would be better."  i will post how the 'double d' soup turns out.