Graham's Gastronomy - Farmer’s Market Fridge Clearing

Summer is rolling into its final stages (and giving it’s all with this heat). With summer comes the farmer’s markets and farm stands. Cutting out the middle man is a great way to reduce pricing, and especially when supporting local business and getting fresh fruits and vegetables, I can’t resist. One of the things I love about farmer’s markets is the availability of uncommon varieties of foods, to include the inevitable oddities, like an ‘L’ shaped cucumber as big as my calf…for a dollar.

With a fridge full of farmer’s food, I stopped at my friend’s house after a day in the Simsbury office for another “personal chef” dinner with friends. It started with the aforementioned cucumber, which I cut in quarters and used my mandolin to slice into a large mixing bowl. I made the blade’s cut even thinner and shaved an onion into the bowl, then tossed in apple cider vinegar, salt, garlic power, pepper, parsley, sunflower oil, dry mustard, and champagne dill mustard. Tossed, and let those flavors mingle while I prepped the chicken.

They had a whole, cooked, rotisserie chicken sitting in the fridge just asking to be fancied up. I diced some small, sweet apples that I quite literally found under a tree near my gym, along with some sweet onions and added them to a wide pot with the chicken, which I shredded and pulled. Under medium heat, I created my own BBQ sauce with tomato paste, maple syrup, salt, pepper, paprika, apple cider vinegar, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and dry mustard. All of this I let simmer while I prepped the last part of the meal.

Zucchini and yellow squash, staple summer vegetables, were sliced into strips and set to sauté in a skillet. When I grill zucchini and squash, I usually keep it simple with salt pepper, olive oil. The grill bestows a smoky char that I don’t want to mask with a heavy sauce or glaze. On the stove however, the vegetables need a little something. Some of the teriyaki/soy sauce from earlier perhaps? Well, I added these only after the vegetables had been set to sauté and the resulting smoke from adding them to an already hot pan set off the fire alarm. Oh well.

The meal was paired with a sweet, strawberry-based white wine, served over ice, sipped on the back patio. And once again, we laughed, caught up, and oddly enough, reminisced about 80’s and 90’s children’s cartoons (I can’t believe they hadn’t heard of Captain Planet!) Till next time I’m in Simsbury.