October 11th Newsletter

Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market, Inc

Sarah’s Corner

From our friend Sarah Fritschner

Naturally you think it makes sense to know where your food comes from. That’s why you shop at the farmers market.

But folks who rely on supermarket food had to wait until Oct. 1 to buy food labeled with its country of origin. And even now, it might not be clear.

Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), required by the European Union, has been postponed here several times since it was written into the 2002 Farm Bill. It was described as too costly and complicated by industry groups that represent both produce and meat.

The current law has loopholes. It exempts foods that have been cooked, marinated and cured, like sausage, bacon, cut up fruit, roasted peanuts, and seafood products like fish sticks.  In addition, it allows for a multiple-country label for muscle cuts on meat. So a shoulder of beef can be labeled with multiple countries, and you have to guess which one is the right one.

Fortunately, if you buy your meat and produce from a farmers market, you know exactly where your food comes from.

Tomato-sausage spaghetti

1 pint cherry tomatoes, or 2 to 3 cups cut up tomatoes

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

4 cloves garlic (about 1 ½ tablespoons minced)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 or 2 teaspoons minced jalapeno pepper, optional

1 pound bulk Italian sausage, ground beef (or bison) or ground lamb

1 tablespoon fresh minced basil

Hot, cooked linguine (or other long, thin noodles)

Parmesan cheese

Wash cherry tomatoes and quarter them if large. Place in a bowl. Chop parsley and add to tomatoes. Mince garlic.

Heat a wide, deep skillet over medium heat and add meat. Cook, breaking it up with a fork, until the pink disappears. Remove to an absorbent towel. Put olive oil and garlic in the same skillet in which you cooked the meat and cook until garlic is golden and aromatic. Add tomatoes, parsley and meat. Mince jalapeno and add it. Cook 10 minutes or so, until the tomatoes are heated through (some may have popped), stirring occasionally. Stir in basil. Serve over hot noodles topped with Parmesan cheese. Serves 4 to 6.

Greek style potato salad

With all the parsley, lemon juice and olive oil, this salad is reminiscent of tabouleh. The olives and feta cheese is pretty salty, so the recipe doesn’t call for any salt. If you decrease or omit the cheese (or olives), you may need to add salt to the recipe.

1 ½ pounds potatoes

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 cups chopped ripe tomatoes (or 2 to 3 medium)

½ bunch parsley, chopped

¼ cup chopped green olives

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces (about 1 ½ cups) feta cheese, crumbled

Cook unpeeled potatoes in boiling, salted water about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain potatoes let them cool. Peel if desired, and cut them into ½-inch (or so) pieces.

Meanwhile, combine onion, tomatoes, parsley, olives, oregano, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic in a bowl. Stir to mix. Add potatoes and feta cheese and stir to mix evenly. Chill 1 to 2 hours. Serves 6.