Sunday, July 29, 2007

Troy Famer's Market





This Saturday I was able to free up some time before work to visit the Troy Waterfront Farmer's Market. As this was the first time I have been this year, I was blown away with the choice of ingredients and the abundance of quality local ingredients. You can find anything from flowers to herbs, bread to meat and poultry. The photo above represents some of the produce I bought: (top) raspberries, yellow tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, red heirloom tomato, (bottom) red onions, orange beets, yellow carrots, purple shallots. I am a big fan of finding something different in veggie land, even if it is just for color. There was even a guy selling exotic mushrooms.



Now is definitely the time to go. The growing season is at its peak (in my opinion) and corn and tomatoes were everywhere. Local herbs and fennel were plentiful. Tubers such as potatoes, onion, radish, beets, carrots were all starting to make their appearance in quantity. Garlic is starting to be pulled in many varieties, and us garlic lovers know what a treat good quality garlic is. You can't even compare it with the crap from the big supermarkets.





I particularly fell in love with these purple shallots and red onions from one vendor and have been using them regularly since Saturday. The onions are sweet and well suited for slicing in rounds over fresh tomato with salt and olive oil.



I would definatley encourage anyone who loves fresh local ingredients to go check this market out. Visit the Troy Farmer's Market website for directions, hours and vendor information, but do not hesitate! Go now and get in on these amazing ingredients. Yet another quality event for Troy.

Here is some more (dare I say it?) food for thought...









Monday, July 23, 2007

Grilled Artichokes



My favorite way to prepare artichokes is to grill them. They really are not difficult to prepare, and are well worth the extra bit of prep time. First, trim the chokes and stems, wash them and slice them in half. Steam them in water, flavored with garlic cloves, lemon slices, peppercorns and salt.



When just tender, and do not let them get too soft, take them out to cool. When easy to handle, use a knife and take out the hairy stuff that resides just above the heart. This should be an easy process at this point as they are halved. Then, cut each one in half again to wind up with quartered chokes. Combine garlic and olive oil and brush the chokes liberally. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Light up a grill and when coals are ready grill each side of the choke, including the “leaf” side, just enough to crisp up the chokes and for grill marks. Sometimes I will throw some mesquite on the coals for a really nice smokey taste. Brush with garlic oil as needed and serve. You will love the flavor and will always want artichokes prepared this way. A great company pleaser as well. These can be prepared ahead and served room temperature as an antipasta or a nice simple side dish to a summer meal. Don’t forget $1 a piece at the Chopper this week.

Hot Market Tip: Lobsters $7.99/lb. at Price Chopper this week. Yum, local corn on the cob and lobster! Sounds like summer.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

All Natural Beef Burgers



Last night we grilled burgers using the Grazin’ Angus Acres all natural ground beef we bought at The Berry Farm. The burger was a bit on the drier side, so do not overcook these patties. Mrs. Freak requested skinny, smaller patties this time so that could also have led to the dryness. Anyway, they more than made up for this in taste. They had a rich deep beef flavor, more like a game meat than typical market meat. That packet shown in the previous post cost seven bucks and made 6 patties (four if you like your burger on the thicker side), which I think is worth is for this kind of quality local beef. Especially since the Freak Fam only has burgers about four times a year. I know I’ll be back for more. To learn more about this beef, check out Grazin' Angus Acres.

Hot Weekend Tip:
Artichokes are on sale for $1 each at Price Chopper! This is great since we all know they are usually a rip off selling anywhere from $2-$3 a piece! I’ve got mine all ready for sunday and will share one of my favorite ways to prepare them on my weekend update. Also, since you’re going to the Chopper to pick up artichokes anyway, you may be interested in T-Bone and Porterhouse steak at $6.99 a pound. It may not be Grazin' Angus Acres, but it's a good price.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Weekend Update: Eats, Gem Farms, More Local Farm Stands


Friday EATS was selling sushi grade yellow fin tuna for $15/lb. It looked better than any tuna I have seen in the local markets. Two “lobes” I was able to pick myself (it was hand-cut in to portions by EATS), cost me just under ten bucks. I took it home, sliced it into strips and ate it sashimi style. It was awesome. No trace of funky smell, or any smell for that matter, and the taste was clean and buttery.


Sunday, the Freak Fam took a road trip south-east of Albany to Gem Farms where they raise buffalo. Not only was it awesome to see these beasts, but we were able to buy the meat as well. I bought hamburger patties, filet, flank, and delmonico. Buffalo meat is supposed to be lower in calories, fat and cholesterol than beef. It supposedly has less fat content then chicken, turkey and shrimp. I will update you when I cook it and put the quality and flavor to the test. But definately worth the short, beautiful drive from Albany. Get directions from the Gem Farms website.

We had lunch in Chatham, a very quaint town with a couple of cute gift shops and cafes. Mrs. Freak had an avocado, tomato and brie sandwich at Our Daily Bread that hit the spot on a hot afternoon, but all other lunches were unremarkable. After, we drove up and down route 9, 203 and 28A hunting for farm stands and there were plenty. Everyone is packing corn. Berries, beans, peaches, onions, potatoes were all plentiful. Tomatoes weren’t quite local yet. One stand off Route 203 called The Berry Farm, had a large selection of exotic local produce (baby turnips, baby beets, champagne grapes, gooseberries), but also stocked local chicken, pork and beef. I picked up some awesome looking burger meat which was from anti-hormone, local grass fed angus cows. See the label for yourself.


This was a great run, we left the house just after ten and we were home before two. There are so many farms in our “backyard” and I am just beginning to explore them. I will keep posting the farm stands throughout the summer, you really want to hit them now!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Easy Summer Salad



Here is one of my favorite summer salads that we enjoyed tonight. It is quick and easy to prepare. All ingredients are local and delicious.

Line a platter with sliced cucumbers, tomato, then thinly sliced onion. Top with arugula (from Mrs. Freak's garden). Salt and pepper each layer and drizzle with olive oil and a tiny squirt of balsamic. A great way to start off dinner in the dog days of summer. Also great with sliced avocado on top!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Local Corn Alert!


It's here...!

I saw my first local corn for sale yesterday. Gade farm is just starting in dribs and drabs. There was probably about 30 ears or less on the table when I was there. None looked good enough to buy yet, the ears were all on the small side and kind of dry looking. The Barber's Farm stand, formerly at Stuyvesant Plaza in '05, but now behind Passano Paints on Western Ave, looked fresh and vibrant. The kernels were on the large side, what my family refers to as "cow" corn, I suppose because this means its going to be chewy, but the corn still looked really good and fresh. When cooked, the kernels didn't "pop" right off when you sunk your teeth in (the way I like it) yet were not chewy in the least. The corn had a nice texture and great flavor for early corn. Most of the produce I've picked up from Barber's Farm stand over the years has been excellent. In July & August they are behind Passano Paint Monday thru Friday from 12 - 5:30 pm and Saturday 9 am - 1 pm.

Be on the look out now for it's only going to get better from here on in. Every day counts from this point on. It's corn season!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Aromi d'Italia = Aromi di Rip-Off

Something just doesn’t smell right at Aroma D’Itlalia, a little Italian restaurant in twenty mall at the crossroads of Route 20 & 155 in Guilderland. Myself, Mrs. Freak and Little Freak went to eat there the other night and decided it didn’t quite come up smelling like roses, not to mention Italy.

Little Freak ordered a sausage orzo soup to start. The sausage was plentiful, and in irregular chunks, like it was hand formed, and was obviously home-made. I found it to be the most redeeming quality about the soup, which was otherwise very salty and contained an abundance of crushed black pepper. I tend to use a lot of pepper on my food but even this was a bit much for me and definitely too much for Little Freak, who rarely leaves soup left behind.

Mrs. Freak ordered a crab stuffed portabello mushroom, which we all agreed had enormous potential but failed miserably in the end. Both the mushroom and the crab were of good quality, but there was so much cheese covering the plate that the food was just lost to it. This appetizer started out in theory as a gourmet treat but dish ended up as a leftover 50’s appetizer that was completely non-committal and unmemorable, over-cheesed and unfinishable. At this point I was feeling pretty good about NOT ordering an appetizer.

For dinner I ordered a grilled pizza. Out of all the pizza on the menu (around 10) one of them was billed as grilled pizza, simply adorned with cheese, fresh tomato and basil. If anyone has enjoyed grilled pizza, it is quite simply a unique smokey treat. However, I came to discover the crusts are pre-made, boboli-type things, and this hard disc of a crust was just thrown on a grill for a second for grill mark effects, then loaded with the toppings, and baked to melt. To make a long story short, I have had better frozen pizza in my time. The crust was dry, hard, and despite someones previous efforts to over-salt everything, virtually tasteless.

Little Freak ordered linguini with white clam sauce, an all-time favorite. Kudos to the chef for the generous amount of whole clams that adorned the plate, around ten in all, however this dish did not stand up to the test as well. Neither little freak nor myself could eat it, other than the clams. The sauce was absoutely tasteless, devoid of any seasoning and sat at the bottom of the bowl, lifeless and unwilling to coat the pasta. This leads me to believe they must rinse the pasta in water, or add oil to the end to keep it from sticking. Mind you the pasta was not over cooked, just not cooked right.

Mrs. Freak’s sausage and sweet pepper penne on the other hand had so much potential. The thin, red-based sauce had a rustic quality packed with flavor and not over-salted at all. The peppers and sausage melded together for an authentic taste but once again, the sauce refused to coat the pasta. Both dishes were bowls of pasta in water and suffered miserably.

We ordered a pint of gelato to go, as I couldn’t bear to stay any longer. With one wine for the Mrs and I, this meal came to over $70 before tip! Yikes and ouch! This was the real kicker! I make pizza at home as well as clam sauce and it’s ten times better than this. This is why I have such trepidation when it comes to dining out. I just can’t stand to waste my money (and my time) in this manner when I can cook these things myself.

I cannot reccommend Aromi d'Italia, unless you are go solely for the gelato, which proved to be quite good, but not that good for $8.99 for the pint. You have been warned by the Freak.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Last Day for Alison's Chicken Sale

I hope everyone had a happy Fourth! I know I did and the rain did not hinder my desire to grill in the least.

I went to the Guilderland (Westmere) Price Chopper and found Alison's all-natural air-chilled chicken to still be on sale for $1.69/lb. They were much bigger than the previous chickens that were in the case earlier this week. They were all hovering around 5 pounds each and looked so much different than the Perdue and Price Chopper brands. First off, Perdue and Price Chopper chickens are vacuum sealed in bags with some sort of liquid. Whether the liquid is just secreted by the birds or added on purpose to somehow keep them fresh I do not know but either way that liquid is coating the bird and adding (or detracting) from the flavor. Alison's chickens are dry in the packet they come in (due to the fact that they are air-chilled) and are a beautiful shade of pale white, unlike the very yellow appearance of other brands. They are all-natural and antibiotic free. Check them out raw for yourself in the following photos.





I prepared a simple spice rub of paprika, onion & garlic powder, cumin, chili power, sugar (regular, brown, turbinado, choose whatever), salt & pepper. I rubbed the birds with a small amount of olive oil and generously applied the spice rub all over, including sprinkling inside the cavities. I lit a charcoal grill and "roasted" the birds whole off to the cold side of the grill, covered. I added some mesquite to the coals before closing the lid to give the chicken a nice smokey flavor. This par-cooking ensures that the chicken is done before you bbq and gives it a great outdoor cooked taste. They came out great.


I brought the birds inside to cool and relit the grill. Once cool, I split the chickens with a cleaver and prepared a simple bbq sauce. Just use your favorite one, however, I have found that bbq chicken lends itself well to sweeter sauces, particularly ones with honey.

Once the grill was ready, I grilled the split chicken directly over the coals, turning before flare-ups, while generously applying the sauce. As the chicken is already pre-cooked, there is no reason to go on forever. Just turn and coat, crisp up the skin, and get a good layer of sauce coated on. That's about it all it takes for sensational chicken and boy it was good.


By the way, these two chickens fed my little family of three for two dinners and two work lunches. Not bad for around fifteen bucks! But act quickly, this sale ends today! If you want to learn more about Alison's chicken visit their site: Alison's Family Farms.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Salmon Update

Ok, so I'm in EATS and they have the Pacific wild salmon in again and it looks great! It came in that day and was $7.99/lb. Two good size steaks I was able to pick out myself cost me $9.75. I wish I got a shot before I marinated but I didn't think.



At first smell I detected a faint wiff of fish but mostly just kind of a sea smell. They probably gut and clean them at EATS as there was some small brownish matter clinging to one of the "legs" on each. Sort of like how parts of liver will stick to the rib cage of chicken. Anyway, my trusty boning knife sliced that right off and after a rinse in cold water they smelled fine. After marinating they went straight to the grill (charcoal of course) and were done in no time.



I like my salmon very pink in the middle and Pacific salmon in particular will get dry very quickly so do not over-cook. I highly reccommend this salmon and will get it again. If you see it in the case, do not hesitate to ask when it came in.



Easy Salmon Marinade:

Lemon Juice
Soy Sauce
Dijon Mustard
Olive Oil
Fresh Herbs, I like Rosemary
Cracked Black Pepper

Combine all to a consitency that will coat the salmon well. I don't use exact measurements but if you need them contact me and I will give you best approximations. Leave out for 15 minutes or so for flavors to absorb. Grill and enjoy.

Monday, July 2, 2007

This Just In: Chickens For Sale

The Price Chopper in Guilderland on the corner of Route 20 and Johnston Road (formerly a Grand Union) has air-chilled all natural whole chickens on sale for $1.69/lb. This puts them at about $4-$6 a piece! Stock up now for a healthy fourth of July BBQ. Visit www.alisonsfamilyfarms.com if you want to know more about the chicken, but it is a great product. I got home and checked the on-line flyer but it didn't give any mention of them, however, the in-store sign indicated that the sale was good until July seventh.

Also, the fish counter had soft shell crabs for $3.99 each, on sale from $5.99 normally. They are cleaned and ready to go. Simply dredge in flour and saute. A couple of these go a long way as they are rich and delicious.

Riboff'07


Every year I organize a rib competition for friends and family. It's basically a chance for all of us to get together and have a good time, but also offers a chance for everyone to put their money where their mouths are in the great "who makes the best ribs ?" debate. This years we had 14 racks of ribs entered into competition. I was lucky enough to nab 3rd place with my tandori rib recipe. An out of town friend took first place with a Vietnamese rib concoction, and my Mother snagged second with a tradional 50's recipe (hers were only baked!) in which the marinade included pickle juice amongst other odd things only found in recipes from that era. Special thanks to my parents, who, with the bigger house and outdoor area, hosted this event for me as they graciously do every year.

Troy Night Out, plus: El Mariachi

I guess I need to do some back-tracking today. On Friday night I took my out of town guests to Troy Night Out. I am ashamed to say that this was my first time going as well. I have always avoided Troy, as people never seem to say anything good about it. We had a great time. The weather was perfect and we all thought that Troy was beautiful (at least that part). The community turn out was impressive as people ambled down the streets poking in galleries and antique stores, bars and restaurants. There was an outdoor vendor selling schwarma, chicken & beef, cut right off the spit. Packed into a fluffy pita (the kind you never find in markets) smeared with tsatsiki sauce, lettuce, and tomato, onion, the smokey meat was delicious and a perfect appetizer to start our adventure.

One gallery in particular which stood out amongst the others was Kismet, located on Fourth street. The four person band playing white noise in the front of the gallery set the tone for a very unussual but exciting gallery scene. It was obviously the most popular place in all of Troy night as people billowed in and out, and swarmed the inside. An intense mix of art from artists from opposite ends of the universe dotted the walls. I won't attempt to be so presumptious as to describe the art so just go and see for yourself, there is bound to be something you'll love and something you'll hate. To me that just means good art. To top all of that of was this table which flanked one wall filled with beverages and exotic dumplings and other tasty niblets which all seemed to have a Far Eastern/Asian influence. Somebody's been in the kitchen cooking up some good finger food for this gallery. The food created a nice touch and a damn good incentive to hang around and look at art. Also, home-made sangria and dollar tap pints were available. Not your average gallery by far. I was very impressed with Troy Night Out and will go again before summer's out. It is nice to see people get together to support a community. It was something I haven't seen in a long time.

As for dinner, my friends were hell-bent on going more casual than intended, now that we were stuffed with dumplings and schwarma. We had once taken them to El Mariachi years before and they loved it, so back we went. Although my friends are from a major metropolitan city, they claim that El Mariachi rules in authenticity and flavor, which is unmatched where they live. I tend to go to the Washington Avenue location and having never had a bad meal there, that's where we stay.

My ultimate favorite are the soft tacos. Cheap and awesome, you order them by the piece,they can satiate any size appetite. They come in all the obvious flavors: beef, chicken, two kinds of pork, but the best are the more exotic meats. The lamb is quite different. You can taste that you are eating a different meat. It is slightly salty and shredded, studed with fresh onions and herbs which help bring out a wondeful gamey flaver that I can't get enough of. On advise of the owner I ordered his favorite soft taco which is the beef tongue. I was very hesitant, as I have never had tongue that I liked, but it was awesome! I new favorite for sure. Little tender chunks of char-grilled tongue meat looked like grilled liver but tasted sweet and nutty, almost like the consistency and taste of frois gras. I know you all probably think I'm crazy but for a few bucks you should try it for yourselves. Friend 1 ordered carnitas, his all-time favorite, and he swears this is the best place he has every had them. Carnitas are basically pork chunks boiled down with seasoning and water until just the fat and pork remain. After this you continue to cook the chunks until they brown from their own fat. The meat is so tasty, fork tender, and beautifully crisped. They serve it with tortilla. Friend 2 ordered papas con chorizo for the table, which is another stellar dish. Basically fried potatoes with chorizo sausages. However, the chorizo meat has been taken out of the casing and fried down to a tiny crumble. It coats the potatoes nicely and makes for a dish everyone seems to love. The margarita's are great but if you like straight tequila, this is the place, with well over 25 select tequila's to choose from. Ask your waiter to reccomend a good repasado or anejo (on-yay-ho). It will be served in a small brandy snifter and will taste like you are sipping a fine brandy. This will shatter your perceptions of tequila. Mariachi is one of my family's staple restaurants as it is afordable and delivers a great product.

All in all a great night.