food – Page 6 – branching out… on a limb

Wednesday’s Farmers Market- Ocean Beach

Every Wednesday from 4-8 pm (& pm in the winter), Ocean Beach has a Farmers Market on Newport Ave. between Cable and Bacon Streets. The website has information on the groups performing and promises a funky and free-spirited vibe is in store for its patrons.

Who could resist such promises?

If you want to get your vegan on and gas up your gluten-free mojo, get down here to Ocean Beach. After passing several international food vendors I stopped to try a sample of the most different ice cream I have ever tasted- Strawberry Basil Sorbet… It. Was. DELICIOUS! I was unprepared to bring home ice cream, so, this little delicacy will be at the top of my list the next time I visit. Sold at $10 per pint in glass mason jars, but bring back the jar and it nets a $2 discount. A little online searching helped me figure out that this is Na Pali Coast Frozen Organics. Worth the drive, people, check out their site for details.

I’ve had my online eye on De La Ranch’s meats for awhile. If you thought there were no local, grass fed meat suppliers in The Southland, think again. De La Ranch is in Elsinore and the ranch is open to the public if you are interested in seeing where your food comes from. We bought a pound of their Farmers Sausage for breakfast this weekend. Can’t wait to try it.

There was officially invited music for the crowd to dance to and enjoy, and there were so many people dancing that I couldn’t get a great photo. Everyone was really enjoying themselves. I counted four other buskers scattered about the market playing an assortment of styles.

Ocean Beach has the most produce and food vendors that I’ve seen at the different markets in the area- meats, nuts, dried fruits, ice creams, desserts, baked goods, cheese, sausage, kombucha, mushrooms, in addition to the much desired fruits and vegetables. We bought onion and garlic flavored pistachios and WILL BE BACK for the coco almonds. I tasted the kombucha and give it two thumbs up.

The Ocean Beach Farmers Market delivered on its promise. It was indeed the most fun and best market that I’ve visited yet.

Tuesday’s Farmers Market- Mira Mesa

On Tuesdays in Mira Mesa as the high school kids leave for the day, the Farmers Market kicks into gear. About forty vendors split pretty equally between produce, cooked foods, and merchandise, sell their goods on the northeast corner of the school grounds.

Now is the time to pick up the last of the summer berries and squash of all kinds were available at all the produce stands. I picked up a nice cherry and apple cider from a stand selling San Joaquin Valley apples. I bought it for The Husband but it looks too good and I’m going to have to make him share. One vendor had about 90% of the clientele of the entire market selling asian greens, vegetables and even a kind of vegetable vine… I regret asking what the heck that was. Clearly, that is the place to buy your produce.

Another stall sells fresh seafood including enormous sea urchins. These were whoppers. They are also available on the half shell, as this happy guy was enjoying during his vacation visiting family.

Japanese, Filipino, Indian and other foods are available. The Indian food stall was passing out samples of their sauces, oh my GOSH they were delicious! They let me know that they sell at most of the local Farmers Markets, so keep an eye out for Masala Cottage and their delicious sauces to take home or made to order plates with rice and samosas. One guy said he gets his dinner at Masala Cottage every Tuesday afternoon, he loves their food that much.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Farmers Market trip… I’m getting one of these dinners for sure.

Fabulous Indian food from Masala Cottage, I kid you not!

Not many buyers in view because they are all at that one stand pictured above…

Monday’s Farmers Market- Welk Resort

Just outside of San Diego’s northern city limits, north of the city of Escondido is a resort that offers the only Farmers Market operating on a Monday. After a quick call to double check with one of the Welk Resort’s operators that yes, indeed, there is such a thing as the Welk Resort Farmers Market, I made the drive north to see what goodies were available.

This is a nice little Farmers Market with about 60 vendors, and I walked away with some superb tomatoes and lovely caramels… even though the lotion and music stalls were giving passers-by the hard sell of their products. They were one step from pushy, really.

But the main goal for this week has already been accomplished: tomatoes like this for dinner! Tomatoes have been strangely absent around here recently, I didn’t grow any and didn’t find a neighbor to mooch from this season… and let’s face it- if a tomato doesn’t come from your back yard, your neighbors’, or a reputable local grower, it just isn’t worth eating.

Heaven…. I’m in Heaven! These are “Pineapple Tomatoes,” I am told. Very sweet and VERY delicious.

Pumpkin Season!!!! I’m Way Ahead of You All… and a Pumpkin Bar Dessert Recipe to Share

…this is the time of year that everyone’s love affair with spices catch up with my year-round favorite flavors. I love all the warm spices that make the rounds every Autumn. Pumpkin spices in my coffee? Thanks a latte! Cinnamon spiced cereals? Yes, please. Throw it all into my grocery cart. May I have one of everything?

Ready for the oven... — Ready for the oven…

I bought the Trader Joe’s jar of Pumpkin Butter… always wanted to do something with this stuff. A little web searching came up with a blog that crossed the Williams Sonoma “Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Bars” with the Trader Joe’s ingredient at 1/6th the price.

And The Husband Sayeth: “It is good.” Good, my foot, these bars are GREAT. Thank you Sheila at SweetBakedLife.com for your Pumpkin Butter Dessert Bars– a delicious dessert that is too good to be served only one season of the year. Sheila made a few changes to the original recipe to the ever popular Williams Sonoma dessert so the proportions work with the slightly smaller jar of pumpkin butter from Trader Joe’s. Thanks for doing the work, Sheila, your recipe is dee-lish!

I followed her recipe nearly exactly, substituting a spice cake mix for the standard yellow butter cake. I also omitted the cinnamon in the topping… good call. The cake mix could stand on its own spices. The bars took less than 20 minutes to mix, layer up, top off with crumbles, then only 45 minutes to bake.

Served warm topped with ice cream or eaten out of hand, these are going to be in my regular rotation- any season, any occasion, any time.

Pumpkin Butter, $2.29, cake mix $1.25, 3 eggs, a stick and a half of butter and little more... delicious. — Pumpkin Butter, $2.29, cake mix $1.25, 3 eggs, a stick and a half of butter and little more… delicious.

New Menu Monday: Italian Chicken and Stuffing Bake (a recipe with potential…)

Here’s a great recipe to try. It’s great because it is forgiving.
Italian Chicken and Stuffing Bake from the food site LifeInTheLofthouse.com

It’s perfect for illustrating all the reasons why a recipe can go wrong… like, if someone feels like swapping ingredients and decide to not follow certain/most instructions, for instance. Experienced cooks, comfortable in the kitchen, should be able to monkey around with ingredients and directions. Experienced, comfortable cooks also get to botch things up, too. Also, someone would have liked to have posted this yesterday (New Menu Monday), but someone’s son monopolized the desktop all evening for an “I swear, I’ll be done in ten minutes, mom, it’s easy” assignment.

Let’s take these simple ingredients:

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (6 oz.) package stuffing mix for Chicken
1/2 cup water (or broth)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup prepared basil pesto
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

If you decide to use four enormous whole chicken breasts, not chopped, swap a different kind of stuffing mix instead of the typical national brand, add the cheese in the wrong place and you will have to cook everything for twice as long as the directions, you might have some issues.

Oops!

But, these are good flavors that go well together which stand up to Scattered Home Chef Syndrome… something I seem to suffer from. Yep.

Here’s what I did to mess up this recipe: