The Harvest Feast

I went to the farmer's market this weekend and bought everything that looked good.  It's the last market of the season--they always hold out until the weekend before Thanksgiving so we can have one last great meal with the local stuff.  (Although, in our case, local produce continues to be available throughout the winter at some of the local grocery stores, but still, the farmer's market is way more fun.

But then I got home with this odd assortment of stuff and no plan, exactly, for what I might make with it.  This used to happen all the time when I belonged to a CSA, and fortunately the CSA sends you home with some recipes that will use up the over-abundance of cabbage or the tiny bunch of basil that happened to be available that week.

Gardeners face the same issue.  Hmmmm, I've got three potatoes, a summer squash, and some parsley.  Now what?

I know, some of you are actual cooks and have an answer to that question.  But for the rest of us--I've discovered Supercook. You enter the ingredients you have and it gives you a list of recipes.  It also prompts you, asking, "Do you also have olive oil?  Salt?  Butter?"  And if you're only short one ingredient, it will tell you that, too.  Pick up some ginger on the way home and you'll have everything you need.  You can even tell it to exclude food you don't eat.

It's a very cool thing.  Check it out.  And happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

Comments

[Chiot's Run]

I was just thinking last night that I should do a blog post about this as I at in my kitchen looking at my Farmer's Market scores. I will check out this book though, sounds very interesting.

I had: oyster mushrooms, bitter winter greens, red onions, fingerling potatoes (which had been baked the night before). I love to cook and particularly love this kind of challenge (it's my creative outlet).

So I grabbed some bacon from the freezer, fried up 2 pieces, used some of the grease to caramelize the onion, which then went to the side.

Then I crisped the potatoes in slices in some of the remaining grease and set them off to the side.

Next, the mushrooms went into the skillet till they were golden and out they came onto the plate.

I put the onions back into the skillet, added some sherry vinegar and some dijon mustard, olive oil, salt & pepper and warmed the sauce, then the greens went and were tossed with the sauce until wilted, then they were plated up, topped with the mushrooms, served with potatoes on the side and everything was sprinkled with freshly grated cheese.

It's all about learning what flavors your family like together, once you do that, you can create quick local meals in a snap. It's like learning complementary colors, once you learn it you never forget and you can create beautiful things for the rest of your life.

[Dee/reddirtramblings]

Thank you for this. What a great idea. Isn't the Internet wonderful?~~Dee

[commonweeder]

Great idea. Another reason to be grateful to the internet. And to local farmers. I'm looking forward to our Winterfare, a single big winter farmer's market. It is amazing!

[Michele Owens]

What a great idea for a site! But I fall into the category of experienced cook who doesn't need it. Every year on our vacation in Maine, my friend Tom awards "pantry points" to anybody who can figure out how to clear out all the random stuff in the refrigerator before we depart. I am the reigning champ--and do not expect ever to beaten.

In fact, I make all my best meals out of odds and ends. If you haven't planned the meal and don't have a super-abundance of any one ingredient, you just cook with a lighter hand. The result is often wonderful.

Here are two of my secrets: pizza and risotto. Both are fabulous with just a bit of this and a bit of that.

[Genevieve]

Thanks for this, because I got this deal at our Farmer's Market last weekend - $15 for a giant 40 lb box of pumpkins and squash. Only once I got it home did I question whether my love for pumpkin curry, butternut squash soup, and pumpkin pie had any quantity limit.

I'm also wondering if consuming all that will turn me orange, but I guess that's a question for another website to answer.

[Old Kim]

Thanksgiving to Indians.
Fresh crab and oyster shooters at the bar.
Thanksgiving for white families. Reunions that make me feel bad.