Using Local Produce

When I showed up today for my class at Hill’s Kitchen on Farmers’ Market Cooking, I was initially somewhat disappointed to see that the two main dishes were ones that I considered pretty much staples at my house. I thought I was coming to find out what to do with the weird things like turnips and kohlrabi and dandelion greens.

But I had already come to appreciate the fact that if you carry away even one new technique from a class, it’s well worth the money. During the course of today’s class I learned that onions need to be cooked very slowly, that garlic should never be cooked over high heat, and that tomatoes and peaches peel easily if an “X” is cut in the bottom before they are dipped into boiling water.

The Israeli Couscous with Onions, Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Feta was quite an elaborate and time-consuming recipe as compared to my one-pan version that takes about 20 minutes start to finish. As skeptical as I was, I must admit that the recipe where all the ingredients were cooked separately and were then combined was far superior to mine.



The Swiss Chard with Almonds and Raisins had the nice touch of red pepper that gave it extra flavor. But otherwise it was not significantly different or better than my version. I actually tried using ginger last night in a similar recipe and it added good flavor.



The baked fruit was quick and easy and deliciously enhanced by a cinnamony Greek yogurt sauce.

This class confirmed for me that I am already a fairly good and adventurous cook. But I can’t quite picture myself standing up in front of a dozen or so people trying to be convincing about what I was doing. I haven’t been to culinary school. In fact I haven’t even taken a course on knife skills. But it turns out I do have good instincts when it comes to food.

Kudos to today’s chef who did a good job convincing everyone to buy local seasonal produce, especially now when it’s so bountiful!