May 9th, 2009 Newsletter

Bardstown Road Farmers' Market Newsletter 

Sarah’s Corner

From our friend Sarah Fritschner

There’s a tiny young woman at my gym, no bigger than a minute, who jogs on the treadmill directly in front of the television, which is invariably turned to the food channel.

She often exercises through two shows that I hope express the outer limits of food preparation on the channel. Everything in them, it seems, contains at least ½ cup butter or is fried (or both), or it’s a dessert made with copious amounts of powdered sugar and more butter. Every episode contains at least 8 ounces of cream cheese. Vegetables are used as condiments.

The last time I saw a hunk of cream cheese tossed gratuitously into some dish I had to think, isn’t there another ingredient that would work, that would add less fat but give the same creamy tenderness we’re after?

And in some cases – not all – the answer is fresh goat cheese. Fresh goat cheese is mild and creamy and has some of the same cooking qualities as cream cheese. It’s creamy when it’s warm, and it makes quiche custard soft and tender.

I expect nobody to give up luxuriousness simply to save a calorie or gain a protein gram, but willy-nilly use of fatty, empty calories seems to contribute nothing to our overall quality of life. Fresh goat cheese certainly does. And it happens to be lower in fat, higher in protein and contribute a little calcium to our diets: a happy bonus.

So we combine goat cheese with fresh greens of spring to create this wonderful (and still somewhat caloric) dinner without cream or cream cheese. Spinach is a natural for this dish, though the tender kale and turnip greens of spring would also be good (later in the summer they might be a little tough).

Green garlic is young garlic, harvested before the cloves form and the papery skin surrounds it. It looks for all the world like green onions, but the smell when you cut it is unmistakably garlic. The taste is, predictably, less intense than regular garlic – good cut up in salads but also adding a garlic flavor to cooked sauces and other dishes like the quiche below.

These days green garlic is only available at farmers’ markets, and only available in spring. Substitute a clove of garlic if you don’t have green garlic.

Spring green quiche

8 ounces (or so) fresh spinach or other tender greens

¼ cup minced green garlic, or 1 large clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

4 ounces fresh goat cheese

4 eggs
1 cup milk or evaporated skim milk
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 cup diced ham or ¼ cup cooked bacon, optional
1 prepared pie crust

Wash spinach or other greens well and set them aside on a towel. Mince green garlic or garlic.

Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add green garlic or garlic and cook until lightly colored. Chop greens into thin ribbons and add them to the skillet along with salt. Cook several minutes to wilt completely and allow any excess moisture to evaporate.

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl, beat goat cheese until softened or broken up. Add 1 egg and beat well to combine. Beat in remaining eggs one at a time, milk, and red pepper.

Spread spinach around the bottom of the pie crust and sprinkle with ham or bacon, if using.  

Place quiche in the oven and cook 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Cook 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Makes 6 servings