July 19th, 2008 Newsletter
Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market, Inc
Sarah’s Corner
From our friend Sarah Fritschner
While many shoppers are aware that much supermarket food is shipped from miles away, they might not think that the florist relies as much on the worldwide transportation system as the produce manager does.
An estimated 80 percent of the cut flowers sold in the U.S. market come from imports. Many come from countries where workers have fewer protections and the pesticide use is less regulated than in the U.S. Indeed, the cut-flower business is one of the most poison-laden agricultural pursuits on the planet. A report by the U.S. Department of Health in 2002 said that more than 60 percent of workers in Colombia and Ecuador suffered from pesticide poisoning, showing symptoms of dizziness, headaches and blurred vision. The same report discussed groundwater contamination from pesticide use.
Not so flowers from Hoosier growers Tammy Ford and John Klueh, who sell at the Bardstown Road Farmers Market. Most of the time, they rely on composted turkey manure, seaweed and biological pest controls to feed and protect their flowers. “The one thing that keeps us from being organic is that we use some synthetic fertilizer,” says Tammy, of Perennial Favorites, who describes her production as “sustainable.”
Cut flowers are one way farmers in the Ohio Valley can diversify their crop. Buying from these Ohio Valley growers – even the ones who aren’t organic – reduces our carbon footprint, bolsters our economy and protects the greenspace around our urban core.
Regionally-grown cut flowers are another good reason to shop our neighborhood farmers market. Other reasons? DreamCatcher lamb. Kentucky bison. Fiedler beef.
Sicilian style lamb sausage
1 pound ground lamb
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon (freshly ground) black pepper
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more to taste
Combine all the ingredients. If you have the time, refrigerate them over night before cooking.
You can form this mixture into patties like breakfast sausage. My favorite way to use it is to season greens, or soup, or as a pizza topping – any of the ways that you would use bulk pork sausage. You can also form large patties and serve it as is, or on a bun, topped with chopped tomato/fresh basil relish. Makes 1 pound.
Chimichurri
Beef is the national dish of Argentina and chimchurri is the national sauce. It’s great served with any sort of grilled steak – beef or bison – including sirloin, flank, skirt, rib-eye . . . .
Use an inexpensive white wine vinegar or other vinegar in this recipe. I add heat to this sauce using unidentified chili peppers my neighbor grows — they are about 2 inches long and are hot but not too hot. I keep them in a bag in the freezer and just pop 1 or 2 into the blender.
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
4 garlic cloves
1 shallot, cut in a few pieces
1/2 cup (or so) fresh oregano
1 fresh hot green chili pepper, such as jalapeno, or to taste
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
3 pounds sirloin or flank steak (or other good grilling meat)
Whack thick stems off the parsley, but don't worry about skinny ones. Cut thick stems off the cilantro but again, don’t be too obsessive. Remove oregano leaves from woody stems but tender stems can be added to the mixture.
Combine all ingredients except the oil and meat in a blender or food processor (blenders give you a smoother sauce, which I prefer, but can be frustrating to work with at first).
Blend the ingredients to chop the herbs. In a blender, this requires turning the machine off, stirring and pressing, turning it on, etc. In a processor, it will just require stopping and scraping a few times. As the herbs start to chop, add the olive oil and blend the sauce until smooth.
Combine 1/2 cup sauce with the meat in a zipper-style plastic bag. Refrigerate, preferably overnight.
Heat grill or broiler to high heat. Place steak directly over (or under) heat, and grill on both sides until brown and cooked to desired doneness.
Pass extra sauce. Serves 8.