May 24th Newsletter

Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market Newsletter

Sarah’s Corner

From our friend Sarah Fritschner

Nobody is better than Bardstown Road Farmers Market shoppers at evaluating the landscape before they determine what to have for dinner.

The days are past when people used to waltz into the May market and ask who’s selling corn. These cool days have made asparagus, lettuce and other greens easy to find and plan meals around. Broccoli is here and, for early shoppers, there are even some strawberries.

Salads make great dinners when their toppings are substantial. The classic salade Lyonnaise has a topping of poached egg and smoked pork bits, but I would feel free to add steamed or grilled asparagus to it also.

Because I buy an entire lamb each spring, I am rich in ground lamb all year long and have had to be creative about using it. My first and nearly favorite way to cook it is substituting it for ground pork in the classic Szechuan recipe “ants climbing a tree,” where it is seasoned with garlic, sesame oil, red pepper and other flavorings and mixed with transparent noodles.

It was making that recipe that I realized I could substitute ground lamb for other ground meat in nearly anything. And one night, when the cache of Italian sausage I had in the fridge went missing, I realized I could use it as the start of my own-homemade sausage. I mixed the ground lamb with fennel seed, lots of garlic, hot red pepper and salt and cooked it in a skillet, adding fresh spinach before I used it to top ravioli.

Mediterranean lamb

If you make your own broth and crushed tomatoes, use them in this dish. If you buy canned, that’s fine too.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, minced, or about 1 cup

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cayenne

½ teaspoon salt

1 pound ground lamb (or beef, or bison)

1 ½ cups (or so) crushed tomatoes, or a 14 ounce can

2 cups (or so) reduced-sodium chicken broth or beef broth

Meanwhile, cook lamb in a medium size dish in the microwave or in a medium skillet over medium-high flame until cooked through, breaking up clumps as it cooks. Drain fat. Add lamb to pan with seasonings, along with tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil over high heat, lower heat to simmer and cook 5 minutes (or longer) to blend flavors. Serve over rice or grits.  Serves 4.

Bacon and egg salad

In Lyon, France, this salad is made with “lardons,” small strips or cubes bacon or fat back. They are sort of chunky, not flat like our bacon. And in France, the egg would be poached.

But made with old-fashioned bacon and eggs “over light,” it makes a delicious salad. The uncooked yolk mixes with the hot pan juices to make a substantial dressing that’s delicious. But if you can’t abide runny yolk, or the yolk breaks while your flipping the egg, don’t worry, the salad will still be good.

8 cups small (or torn) salad greens

4 teaspoons vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 slices bacon

2 eggs

Wash the salad greens and dry well. Place on two serving plates.

Combine vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in a small cup with 1 tablespoon water and stir to dissolve sugar and salt.

Cook the bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat until it is crisp, then transfer to absorbent towel. Crack the eggs into the skillet and cook over medium-low heat until set on the bottom. Use a spatula to flip them over gently but quickly until the are just set. Scoop an egg on top of each salad.

Put the skillet back on medium-high heat and when it is very hot, add the vinegar mixture. Stir it quickly to mix the vinegar with the bacon fat and to dislodge any solids in the skillet. Drizzle over salad. Serves 2.