The day started off threatening to rain but did an about cloud and not only did the sun come out but the temperature went up to 67 degrees. This was great but it confused the bees. The bees surrounded me and all the pots and food as I did the demo. Apparently the bees are usually in their hives this time of year but any temperature above 50 brings them out. The problem is that there are no flowers and nothing for them to eat...so they came to my cooking demo!! They were rather frantic though and some of them died in the flames of the butane burners.
I made two dishes. A STONE SOUP, which is soup that is made from whatever anyone gives you. I went around to the vendors and asked for contributions. I also made a SAVORY AND SWEET APPLES ON TOAST. Since I had no assistant there are no photographs but here are the recipes as I improvised them:
STONE SOUP
Canola or Olive oil
3-4 skinless chicken thighs, diced (Dines Farm)
1/2 red onion, small dice (R & G Produce)
2 carrots, medium dice (R&G)
2 celery stalks , medium dice (R&G)
1 large bunch of mushroom, chopped (Piopinno mushrooms - Madura Farms)
1 potato, peeled, medium dice (R&G)
1 sweet potato, peeled, medium dice (Taliaferro - organic)
1 tomato, peeled, deseeded, chopped (R&G)
1 small Napa Cabbage or Bok Choy, chopped (Taliaferro - organic)
1/4 cup chopped parsley (Taliaferro - organic)
1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence (I brought it with me)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil and saute the chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the onion, then the carrots and celery. Stir. Add the mushrooms, then the potatoes. Stir to saute. Then add the cabbage and parsley. Add a little more salt and pepper and the herbes de Provence. When it is all hot and steamy add enough water to cover all the vegetables by about one to two inches. Bring to a boil and simmer. That's it. Good vegetables/ingredients = Good soup.
Thanks to everyone who contributed.
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| Piopinno Mushrooms |
Then I made something with apples. Here is what I did:
SAVORY AND SWEET APPLES ON TOAST
1/2 red onion, sliced (R&G)
2 sundried tomatoes, chopped small, with their oil (brought with me)
1 small Napa cabbage, chopped (Taliaferro Farms)
Saute the onion to caramelize, then add a bit more oil from the tomatoes and the tomatoes. Stir. Add the chopped cabbage and mix together until it wilts. Remove to a bowl.
2 Granny Smith apples, cored but not peeled and sliced into thin segments (Concklin Farm)
2-3 tablespoons raw honey (Rick @ Hummingbird Farms)
1 cup Doc's Hard Apple Cider (Warwick Winery)
Saute the apples in a little oil - whatever you have, or butter - until they are slightly cooked. Drizzle with a little bit of honey. Add the onion/cabbage mixture in with the apples. Pour the hard apple cider over it all and let it cook off.
Meanwhile, take a baguette and make some toast. I got the bread from Meredith Bakery and Panzarella Foods and used a Portuguese tin toaster I bought at the Museum of Modern Art. Don't be fooled by that, it's a very rustic tool made of a square of tin with some holes and a screen on top. Put it over a flame and it makes great toast. You have to watch it because it will burn quickly.
Also, got some nice cheese slivers from Valley Shepherd that we enjoyed on the toast.
Put the Apple mixture on top of the toast. Eat. Drink more Hard Apple Cider with it.
