June 14th Newsletter
Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market
Sarah’s Corner
From our friend Sarah Fritschner
Shopping for bargains?
Many people new to farm markets sometimes expect the food to be less expensive than comparable food found at the supermarket.
But the real purpose of shopping farm markets is to get the best possible product (freshest, picked close to or at peak, unusual varieties) while giving the farmer the most he can earn for his labor.
Though total farm economy was up in 2007, many of the benefits went to growers of crops to make ethanol, not to the folks growing your organic greens, or your humanely-raised pork. Organic growers don’t get federal subsidies; growing corn for ethanol does.
Buying local, and paying a fair price to a farmer for his work, helps preserve the farm and the greenspace surrounding our cities that make them habitable. If we reward our farmers with a fair price, they are more likely to farm well so the land continues to produce food for generations.
Honey chicken
If you cook this dish using boneless meat, cut cooking time by about 10 minutes.
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
½ to 1 teaspoon black pepper
1 chicken, cut up into serving pieces (or enough to feed 4 people)
Heat oven (or grill) to 350 degrees. Combine soy sauce, honey and black pepper in a large bowl and stir to blend honey evenly into mixture. Add chicken pieces and stir or toss with your hands to coat all over with soy sauce mixture. Place in a shallow baking pan wide enough that the chicken pieces aren’t crammed together. Bake 30 minutes and remove breast pieces. Bake 10 minutes more, or until dark meat is cooked through. Serves 4 to 6.
Goo-free strawberry (or peach) pie
I put this recipe in my 1995 “Express Lane Cookbook” after getting it from then-restaurateur Luckett Davidson who owned Café Musee at the Speed Museum. It features strawberries at their best and brightest. You don’t think it’s going to work, but it does. It slices beautifully. I give a recipe for a tart shell but you can buy one pre-made.
Tart shell:
1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water
Filling:
About 1/3 cup powdered sugar
About 4 cups fresh strawberries, halved or quartered, if large
1 cup whipping cream
To make the tart shell: Combine flour and salt in a medium-size bowl. Using 2 knives, a pastry blender or your fingers, cut shortening into flour mixture until the lumps are no larger than small peas. Add water and blend with a fork until mixture holds together when you press it into a ball.
Roll out on a floured surface about 1/8 inch thick. Place in a 9-inch pie pan and trim any over-hanging edges.
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Just before baking, prick tart shell all over with a fork. Cut a piece of foil to fit the pan and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Line tart shell with foil, oiled side down, then weigh it down with dry beans, rice, metal pellets, washers, small nails, or whatever is handy. Bake 20 minutes, or until light brown. Remove the foil and cool tart shell.
To make filling: sprinkle powdered sugar on the bottom of tart shell to make a layer about 1/8 inch deep. Fill with strawberries. Push down strawberries very gently; don’t worry about filling every little space, just a slight pressure will be fine.
Whip cream until stiff peaks form and smear it on the pie, pressing down gently with a spoon to fill in some of the spaces between the strawberries (it won’t fill in all spaces). Chill for 1 to 2 hours before slicing. Serves 6 to 8.