Autumn Salads, Rainy Weekend

The harvest may be over, and the glory days of the farmers market ending, but last week, I found a lot of good stuff at two different Westchester farmers markets -- the Wednesday night market in Irvington and the Saturday morning market in Hastings. Wednesday was my second time at the Irvington market, but my first time ever shopping at a farmers market in the pitch dark. Oh sure, some vendors had rigged up small battery-operated lanterns, but mainly I had to rely on the senses of touch and smell (and the flashlight on my key ring) to pick out shallots, chard, Keuka Gold potatoes, baby leeks and what is probably the last of the summer sweet corn. On Saturday, I avoided the prepared food temptation and picked up a few supplemental items at the Hastings market, including yams, breakfast radishes and a variety of apples. And on Sunday, it rained. So it was a perfect day for cooking, particularly as I had a friend coming over for lunch. The menu included roasted pork loin, Mark Bittman's Roasted Sweet Potato Salad (with the fresh corn), Smitten Kitchen's acorn squash with chile-lime vinaigrette and a green salad I made up on the fly.

Despite the surplus of yellow and orange in the meal (beta Carotene is all good, right?), my skin has not turned orange like an Oompa-Loompa or anything. But since I am trying enjoy the autumn produce while I still can, who knows what will happen before the season is over!

Crunchy Green Salad

I love cheese in salads, but get sick of feta or goat cheese crumbles, so Ricotta Salata is a good alternative that pairs well with the sweet flavors in this salad.

Ingredients

3 Cups mixed greens (I used the Sorrento blend from Trader Joes)

2 Scallions, sliced on an angle

5 Breakfast radishes, sliced into thin rounds

2 T. Pine nuts, toasted

2 T. Pomegranate seeds

1/4 Cup Ricotta Salata, crumbled

Olive oil

Rice wine vinegar

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Method

Combine all ingredients and toss with olive oil, rice wine vinegar and spices to taste.

Enjoying the Harvest at Stone Barns

As I hinted in my last post, I've had a crazy few weeks. The big news is that I did it -- I moved out of New York City. I am now a resident of Westchester County. Although I've been consumed with unpacking and setting up my new place, I have been exploring my new area. In fact, last weekend I made it to Stone Barns for Harvest Fest.

Ever since the farm was featured on Top Chef (not to mention a slew of blogs), I've wanted to visit. When I saw the listing for Harvest Fest online, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity.

I admit, I was a bit surprised by the admission fee but I figured I was actually making a donation, since the farm operates as a nonprofit (on a typical day, the center has a $5 parking fee, reimbursed after purchases totaling $15. If you want to attend a program, those have a separate fee). I was also a bit surprised by the lack of program information online, but ended up just going with the flow.

The program, which I received once I arrived, was pretty extensive, with music and demos and hayrides and a street-fair like farmers market. The place was also packed -- but more with families than foodies. Let's just say the stroller brigade was out in full force (one of the reasons I did not take the hayride).

But I enjoyed wandering the grounds and greenhouses, as well as sampling the food: from Stone Barns' own grassfed beef sloppy joes and roast pork sandwiches to tacos from Chipotle (hey, they were a sponsor, and their tacos are good) to Mast Brothers Chocolate to Balthazar's baked goods.

Stone Barns also had a table full of produce for sale, including delicata and dumpling squash. I had never seen dumpling squash before, and since they looked ideal for stuffing, had to buy some. The ladies at the stand recommended a savory stuffing built around rice, as well as a sweet stuffing with apples and nuts.

I opted to go for the former, and combined cooked brown rice with chopped fresh spinach and diced chicken sausage in a light cream sauce. The end result was super cute and tasty, but I realized one thing...I am not a huge sweet, winter squash fan. Oh sure, I like it as a side or in a salad, but squash as a main course is a bit too glutenous for me. Live and learn!

Stuffed [Sweet] Dumpling Squash

As with delicata, you can eat the skin/rind of dumpling squash.

Ingredients

Two dumpling squash, cut in half through stem end and de-pulped and de-seeded

1 Clove of garlic, minced

1 Shallot, minced

1 T. Olive oil

1 c. Cooked brown rice

1 c. Baby spinach leaves, chiffonade

1 Link chicken sausage, chopped

Splash of chicken broth

Splash of half and half

Dash of red pepper flake

Dash of nutmeg

Salt

Pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 375.

Place squash halves in greased baking dish cut side down and roast for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, saute the garlic and shallot in olive oil; add baby spinach until wilted.

Turn off heat and add rice, chicken sausage, liquids and spices to taste.

After 20 minutes, remove the squash and turn cut side up; season interior of squash with salt and pepper; pack loosely with rice filling.

Cover dish with foil and return to oven for another 20 minutes.

Serve immediately.

The Wetlands of Amsterdam

It's been quite a hectic September between travel for fun, travel for work (and fun), getting socked with a triple whammy of a ear infection, eye infection and upper respiratory infection, and, if that wasn't enough, packing up and moving out of New York City (more on that later).

Needless to say, I haven't been doing a lot of cooking. So while I get my new place set up, and plan for my first trip to the local farmers market, here are pictures from my canoe tour of the countryside around Amsterdam a few weeks ago.

After watching a segment on 60 Minutes featuring Rick Steves paddling through the canals around Amsterdam, I knew I wanted to do the Wetlands Safari tour. The 60 Minutes segment aired in 2005, right after my first trip to the city and right before my second visit. I tried to make a booking back then, the trips were filled, so I ended up waiting four and a half years to get my chance.

On a cool and cloudy Sunday morning, I met a group of tourists from Australia, Austria, California, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland and yes, Holland, at the local TI and boarded a bus a few minutes outside the city limits for what turned out to be a five-hour tour through small villages, part of a major canal, and then a nature preserve.

And despite a little rain and wind mixed in with sunshine, it was worth it for the combination of scenery, wildlife and sound of the water. During the lunchtime pit stop, I even picked some wild blackberries.

So if you've already hit the Rijks Museum, toured the cramped Anne Frank House, bought your van Gogh Starry Nights poster and gawked your way through the Red Lights District, a canoe trip is not a bad way to spend an afternoon in Holland.

Foodie Day in Amsterdam

You know, I could really see myself living in Amsterdam. The people are friendly, just about everyone speaks English, the canals are charming and the food is good. True, you need to hunt down the good food, unless you have the munchies and even a treat from the FEBO automat will do.

My first stop on Saturday was the Noordermarkt. I love this organic farmers market, meets clothing market, meets bric-a-brac market. In addition to picking up some cool souvenirs, you could cobble together a meal out of the prepared food items offered -- from pizza to sushi to Vietnamese food. Or, if you have access to a kitchen like I do, you could pick up bread, cheese, vegetables, and even pate and actually cook. But this time, I just chose to wander versus buy (although I did pick up a cute Miffy toy for my niece).

Just beyond the market is a small shop I stumbled upon during my last visit to Amsterdam (circa 2004) -- Delicious Food. And the name says it all. Picture a gourmet food shop lined with bulk dry good containers filled with unusual treats, a variety of olive oils available by weight and even an extensive raw food section. I restrained myself and got a few grams of mixed nuts, another small bag of museli and a container of salad sprinkle to take home (looks like a combination of dried cranberry, dried apple, seeds and nuts to toss with a green salad). From the market area, I meandered down the Prinsengracht and found Pancakes!, a tiny restaurant that got high marks on chowhound.com and on nytimes.com for its many varieties of pancakes. But it was packed, so I continued all the way down to Wagmama. I know, overpriced ramen seems like a cop-out, but I love the chilli chicken and so rarely get to Wagamama, so I went for it. Stuffed, I continued to follow the canal ring to scout out De Waaghals, another highly rated vegetarian restaurant. It is only open for dinner, so I just looked at the menu and made a mental note to go back someday. One block east, I passed the cutest tea shop -- Taart van Mijn Tante. With elaborately decorated styrofoam cakes lining the windows, and mismatched tables and chairs, the shop has a lot of character. But after over 20 minutes of sitting an outdoor table without being waited on, I bailed (this was after I went in and asked if I could sit outside). Tsk, tsk, but to be fair, they were busy. Sad, but still seeking a sweet, I found another patisserie. During my long walk, I noticed several people carying bags from Holtkamp, and figured it must be a local favorite. It was clear the shop was closing by the time I entered, but I did get a slice of the apple tart and another slice of an electric green and pink cake (which ended up being a delicious sponge with strawberry cream. Wish I had gotten two slices of that and passed on the apple). The shop had really nice looking chocolates, which I noticed after I paid. But in the time I entered the shop and paid, no less than five other people had crowded in, so chocolates would have to wait for next time. Despite the sweet treats in my bag, it would be a while before I would sample them. I got the bright idea to drop by the VVV (Tourist Information office) to ask a few questions, and ended up waiting 45 minutes to speak with someone (the VVV staff also help with hotel bookings, and apparently, this is one of the busiest times of the year due to a huge conference going on. Most hotels were fully booked, so I was very lucky to find the accomodations I did, and felt very sorry for those looking for a room last minute). By the time I left, I was exhausted, and in no mood to dine out. The one bright spot during my 45 minutes at the VVV was that I had time to read the September issue of Time Out Amsterdam cover to cover, and noted that Small World Catering, a catering outfit with a small deli storefront, was right around the corner from my flat. So I swung by and picked up a sandwich and salad to go. The store is very small, and in fact the name does not even appear on the awning outside, so it's easy to miss. There are about four seats inside and four outside, so it's more of a grab-and-go kind of place. The sandwiches (I got a tuna melt on cibatta) were huge and at 6.75 euros, enough for two (or two meals). I know the Dutch love their sandwiches, and I have sampled a few broodjies during my visits, and I can definitely say this one was the best. So I set out for home, carrying a huge tuna sandwich, a small container of couscous salad, a container of Greek vegetable salad and two pieces of cake, when I virtually ran into two people coming out of a small shop carying ice cream cones. Despite my load, I could not resist stopping at Jordino for a gelato. For 2 euros, I enjoyed a small scoop of yogurt and a small scoop of a champagne citron flavor. Some people come to Amsterdam to drink. I think I prefer to eat champage flavored gelato. Lest you think I am a complete glutton, no, I did not eat everything in one sitting, or even two for that matter. That's the benefit of staying in a flat with fridge -- I have lots of leftovers to take on the plane home with me. Bet the other passengers will be jealous that I am bringing a taste of Amsterdam home.

Live Blogging Amsterdam: Dutch Flat

I am staying in a Dutch flat for the weekend. I actually prefer to rent an apartment vs. stay in a hotel because you get more space, a kitchen so you can breakfast at your leisure and overall, a better taste of local life. My current digs are on a busy street in the Jordaan neighborhood (which I really like). No canal view, but it's right around the corner from the Prinsengracht. Of the flats I've stayed in over the years, I give this one pretty high marks for amenities. In fact, there's free Wifi, the mini fridge came stocked with a bottle of Cava and OJ, and there was a hair dryer in the bathroom. But the feature I am most impressed with is the bedroom "open wardrobe." Plenty of room to spread out my junk, but the unit itself has a very compact footprint. Could use something like that at home! P.S. Yes, that's the full content of my suitcase. And yes, that's a vintage-looking KLM travel poster over the faux fireplace. Kind of ironic, considering what brought me to Amsterdam!

Live blogging Amsterdam

36 hours ago, I was at the Delaware shore. Now, I am canal side in Amsterdam. Isn't jet travel grand? I had a work meeting today and decided to splurge on a weekend here in Holland since my beach break was cut short. Even though I've been up for almost 30 hours, I feel very chill and relaxed after my hectic week. And I have not even sampled the local treats (the local coffee shops don't just serve java)! Just a glass of organic wine at De Bolhoed.

Bethany Beach, DE Farmers Market

I am spending part of this week at the shore -- Bethany Beach, to be exact. On Sunday, my mom and I took at walk down the beach to the town's small farmers market.

It was the last market of the season, and it was kind of fun to literally see the fruits of summer (e.g., tomato) alongside the first signs of autumn (e.g., gourds, acorn squash).

It's not like we needed much food. In fact, my parents had literally packed and hauled most of the contents of their cupboards, fridge and freezer. Case in point, they packed two kinds of couscous (Israeli and whole wheat), an immersion blender and a panini press.

But we needed some garlic, and who doesn't love watermelon at the beach? The sweet corn was picked that morning, and the tomatoes were too gorgeous to pass up. The green beans were so thin, "almost like haricot vert" the farmer claimed. And I had never seen the green-and-gold zephyr squash, so of course we had to get some. Finally, the sample of pumpkin mushroom soup convinced us to pick up a few cremini.

Did we go overboard? Perhaps, but I've already enjoyed roasted vegetables and shrimp over orzo and a zucchini-corn-bacon-cheese quesadilla. Despite the sun on Sunday, the weather has turned cool and damp, so soup at the beach now doesn't seem like an oxymoron. The watermelon? Well that might have to wait until the sun shines once again (here's hoping).