Keeping with the food theme, we have been trying desperately to keep up with the influx of produce from Erik’s farm.
Tag: Farm Fresh Food
I miss September
Let’s talk about the brilliance of September. Especially since we’re just coming off of about 10 weekends in a row of “blizzard-like conditions.”
I miss September.
I took the birthday boy on a whale watch.
(It’s worth noting that we walked to the whale watch from our apartment. I’m so in love with Gloucester.)
And we actually saw WHALES. Like 6 of them. Right next to the boat.
I kept my expectations low because the 8th grade whale watch in 1996 was a horrible flop.
But these were huge WHALES. RIGHT THERE. NEXT TO THE BOAT.
We also took a drive over to Plum Island. Before it got slammed and slammed and slammed by weather disasters. Poor Plum Island.
Our biggest adventure of September involved this out-of-control heirloom tomato situation:
Yeah. It’s a rough life.
It was the best problem ever, and canning was the only way out.
We hunted this down three Targets away and got to work. It was a LOT of work.
The end result, however, was that we had fresh tomato sauce through January. Maybe even February. Totally worth it.
Also, in September, Erik’s mouth accidentally walked into my cheek in the pitch-black apartment when he had no idea I was standing in the doorway. It was very surprising for both of us. This happened:
And, of course, our love affair with Cape Ann continued to blossom.
Cox Reservation:
Squam Rock lighthouse:
Squam Rock itself:
Pretty Annisquam:
Gloucester, I love you.
A Festival of Tomatoes
This past weekend, I became the luckiest eater on earth.
The chef/owner of Erik’s farm holds monthly farm-to-table dinners on the property throughout the summer. Last weekend happened to be the Festival of Tomatoes.
Tickets are $175 per person (eeeeek!!), but since Erik’s working there, he gets to attend one for free …
… and bring me!! 😀
I made it to the farm after work on Friday at around 5:45, just in time for cocktail hour.
I’m not really a drinker, but I’m a sucker for anything with fresh fruit that does not taste alcoholic. This “nightshade cocktail” fit the bill, so I had three in rapid succession.
And I pounced on the hors d’oeuvres, like this puff of amazingness full of oozing cheese.
And this cute farmer.
And the cold tomato soup shooter with mini clam cake (!!!).
And the seared tuna with avocado and micro beet green.
Just past 6, we made our way to the dinner table, appropriately festooned with the stars of the evening.
We could not stop admiring the menu. Here’s Lindsay, Erik’s co-apprentice, modeling the work of art.
We started with buttery bread … slathered in fresh butter.
Mmmmmmmm, butter.
The first course — “Heirloom tomato and eggplant terrine with almond and saffron” — was a masterpiece in itself.
This was perhaps the most high maintenance preparation of tomatoes and eggplant imaginable … and it was also my favorite course.
I have no idea how they managed to plate so many dishes with this fragile tomato mosaic as fast as they did!
Next up: Lemon and cilantro grilled flounder, Wellfleet clams, green zebra tomato with corn, and linguica broth.
Pre-broth:
In progress:
Post-broth:
I don’t think my words can do any of this justice.
(Did I mention that each course came paired with a generous glass of wine?)
The sun started to go down in time for the third course: Ashed Archer Angus Farms beef sirloin with yellow brandywine tomato rosemary confit, piperade, and fresh dug fingerling potatoes and chanterelles.
The glaze was painfully delicious, and the spices in the ash rub were perfect.
Again, I just can’t do this food justice with my words, so I’m going to stop trying!
I was starting to get uncomfortably full at this point, so I let Erik take half my meat (the inside piece — not the yummy outside!) because I knew dessert was coming!
Dessert definitely won the prize for most inventive: plum tomato and almond frangipane tart with basil goat’s milk ice cream.
We remarked that this sort of tasted like pizza … but in a non-weird desserty way.
It worked so well! I’d eat this for dessert every day if I could.
We thought we’d reached the end, but then we noticed that a fire pit had emerged …
… complete with s’mores fixings!
I was so uncomfortably full, but who can resist s’mores on a farm???
In conclusion, I think that Erik should stay a farmer forever and ever and ever!
Colors
In the beginning, everything was green.
Life was one big salad …
… or one big squash, depending on the month.
Then, something strange started to happen:
Our food started to turn purple.
It started with purple kohlrabi and purple potatoes.
I came home one day to find purple bell peppers, garlic, and eggplant.
And more purple potatoes with striped beets.
On it went, with purple cabbage, purple lettuce, purple onions. My skin even started to turn purple.
Somebody had to do something about this madness.
(Photo from The Boston Globe.)
Luckily, hope is on the way.
Life has just become more interesting.
The rainbow is here!
Vale la pena
My door-to-door commute from Gloucester to Chelsea takes an hour and a half. Spending this amount of time in transit twice a day may seem like a waste to some, but I enjoy it for a number of reasons. I can walk to the commuter rail from my apartment, and I can walk to work from the commuter rail. I can catch up on reading and lost sleep.
And I can see these gorgeous morning views out the train window (unless it’s grey and rainy like it has been for the past five days):
Apparently, the train also allows me random celebrity sightings on a Thursday morning in no-name MA towns:
Good morning to you, too, Adam Sandler!
The other thing paying off around here is a certain low-wage organic farming apprenticeship:
And that’s not even the half of it. Who needs money when your man gets paid in vegetables? 😛
Tales of Expansion: Baby Butternut Edition 