Cooking Out Of The Box

 We love the Dane County Farmers Market for a lot of reasons beyond the great setting at the Wisconsin Capital Square.  One of those reasons that I am particularly fond of is the availability of artisan cheeses.  Wisconsin, being America’s Dairyland, is home to some of the best artisanal cheeses in the world, and the Farmers Market on the Square provides the venue which allows them to shine.

A particular personal favorite is Hook’s Cheese, out of Mineral Point, WI.  Founded and operated by Tony and Julie Hook, this local cheese factory produces some of the best aged cheddar cheese available.  And while the aged cheddar is spectacular, it is suprassed by the amazing blue cheeses and gorgonzola cheeses that they also produce.

Their Blue Paradise is a double cream blue, and when they say double cream, they mean it.  You will never find a more “melt in your mouth” blue cheese.  Their Gorgonzola is equally as amazing.  When you go to the market, pick these cheeses up!  There are so many ways that you can use them, and you won’t regret it! 

Here are just a few examples of how I’ve used the Gorgonzola lately.  Feel free to substitue the Blue cheese in these recipes as well - it will turn out just as good!

Ramps were one of the finds that made our first CSA Produce season worthwhile.  I had never heard of a ramp before I first started getting our produce box from Harmony Valley Farm.  Now they have become a passion.  They came in the very first box, and I looked at them with intrigue.

On the surface, they looked like a scallion, but the aroma was so much more intense.  We chopped them up and sauteed them and were surprised to find that the aroma sharpened with cooking.  Research later showed that ramps have a very big reputation for “stinking”!

Some might think that is a bad thing.  I do not.  Ramps may not necessarily be for the faint of heart, but if you love garlic and onion,  you can not go wrong with ramps.

The flavor is sharp, and seems to be a cross between onion and garlic.  I was an instant fan.  My only disappointment was in discovering how short the ramp season is.

I did some research and found out that ramps (Allium tricoccum), also known as wild leeks, were native to North America.  White bulbs are topped by green leaves.  The stems leading up to the leaves are burgandy in color.  Native Americans held ramps in high esteem for medicinal purposes, and it turns out that they were right on target.  Ramps are high in Vitamins A and C, and they fight high cholesteral just like their cousin, the garlic.

Ramps are simple to use, and add flavor to almost any dish.  Simply sautee them as you would onion or garlic, tear the greens up and add them to salad, or even sautee the greens as well.  In addition, here are some recipes that feature ramps:

Ramp Recipes

Bacon-wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Ramps, Scallions and Mustard Sauce
Ramp, Scallion and Green Garlic Pesto
Orecchiette Pasta Carbonara with Pancetta, Peas and Ramps

It’s week #2 of the CSA box, and I am not proud to say that I didn’t do all that well with week #1.  Oh, I had spinach salads with ramps and spinach.  I cut up some of the black radishes too.  I sprinkled chives over things.  But I had vowed to do something with the sunchokes, and I didn’t.  So now, after this week, I have double the sunchokes.

Anyone have a bright idea about what to do with sunchokes?

In the box this week:

• Asparagus
• Ramps
• Parsnips
• Black Radishes
• Sunchokes
• Chives
• Spinach
• Salad Mix
• Sorrel
• Rhubarb
• Herb pack

I am a frequent flyer.

That might be an odd opening statement for a blog centered around seasonal cooking and related topics, but bear with me here… it really is pertintent!

Like all the other frequent flyers on Northwest, we are held captive for hours on end, staring at the back of the seat in front of us.  Cleverly, Northwest has found a way to capitalize further on your boredom.  They provide a Skymall Magazine in the seat pocket in front of you.

So, as a frequent flyer, you get on plane after plane and inevitably boredom drives you to resort to thumbing through this magazine.  And voila - you get sucked in.  You find things you never even knew you needed, only to discover that you need them desperately!  And try as you might to control the urge to spend, eventually you give in and do it.

This is how I came to own my upside down tomato planter.  It’s an amazing thing.  You fill the base with water to weigh it down, you stick tomato plants through holes in the top, you fill the top with dirt, and then you plant your herb garden on top of that. 

Well, I think it is amazing anyway.  Greg is dubious.  He’s wondered aloud if a Ronco Bass-O-Matic is going to turn up on our doorstep next.  He seems to be missing the sense of adventure needed to view this with enthusiasm.

Jimbo looked on in confusion as we forced tomato plants through holes.  This isn’t unusual.  Jimbo tends to be perpetually confused.  Toshi didn’t seem to really care what we were doing.  This isn’t unusual either.

My family joined us for dinner the day after we got this out on our back deck.  They rolled around the yard laughing and pointing.

But come August, when I have beautiful tomatoes hanging upside down in my backyard, I know that I will have the last laugh.

The first Sunday in May brings the opening of the Monona Farmers’ Market. Today started out gloomy and cold, but I am not going to complain… take a look at opening day in 2004!

I like the Monona Farmers’ Market for a few reasons. It is low key, it is on Sunday morning, it provides your basic Farmers Market staples, and it is close to my house. In addition to that, it gives me a good reason to stop by my favorite local Madison coffee shop, Cuppa Jo on Monona Drive. I’d link to their website if they had one! I’ve told Anne to put some stuff together and I’d add her to Madison Dining Online. I love neighborhood places! Next time you drop in, tell her that Irene is still waiting!

Ah, but I digress. I grabbed my coffee and headed off to the market.

My goal: asparagus, potatoes, and buffalo cookies.

Yes, that’s right, buffalo cookies. My dogs love them. But alas, I was foiled in all goals except for the asparagus. The buffalo guy assures me that the cookies will make an appearance next week. This is a good thing. The Shibas are hungry!

Our first produce box arrived!  I’ve stolen the image that our farm sent us a day or so before it was time to pick it up… I don’t think that they’ll mind!

It’s always entertaining to see how sparse the first few boxes are.  The box this week was small and very light in weight.  In August, that box is going to weigh up to 30 pounds, not 2 pounds, and it is going to be very difficult to lug into the back of my car.

Of course, given that we’ve spend a very long winter season with no fresh produce, I’ll take what I can get!  I’m not going to complain about the sparceness… I’m going to enjoy the ramps! 

In this weeks box we recieved:

• Chives
• Parsnips
• Ramps
• Spinach
• Sunchokes
• Black Radishes

Per my Dane County Farmer’s market newsletter that comes out each Friday, tomorrow there may be some morel mushrooms! Few and far between (and very, very expensive, of course), but morels none-the-less. It also sounds like asparagus will be available! Mmmmmm. Asparagus.

I’ll be there bright and early, before the rest of the crowd, checking out the status of tomato plants, hanging flower baskets, and some early baby potatoes!

Here’s what is supposed to be available this week at the market. I’m reposting this from the newsletter mentioned above. If you want to subscribe to the newsletter, just go to their website!

• Apple Cider
• Arugula
• Asparagus
• Baby Beets - Limited Amount
• Baby Carrots - Limited Amount
• Bedding Plants
• Bison Cuts and Products
• Burdock
• Cheese Curd
• Chives
• Emu
• Fresh and Dried Herbs
• Fresh Cut and Dried Flowers
• Fresh Farm Eggs
• Fresh Pasta
• Fresh Salad Greens
• Fresh Salmon
• Fresh Trout
• Garlic
• Garlic Greens
• Goat and Sheep Milk
• Cheese
• Grass-fed Beef
• Hanging Baskets
• Homemade Cheesecake
• Homemade Cottage Cheese
• Homemade Dog Treats
• Homemade Salad Dressings and Herb Vinaigrette
• Homespun Wool
• Honey Jams and Jellies
• Lamb Maple Syrup
• Morel Mushrooms
• Mouth Watering Bakery
• Mushrooms
• Nettles
• Nursery Stock
• Ostrich
• Parsnips
• Pastured Pork
• Pepper Ristras
• Pesto
• Potatoes
• Poultry
• Pussy Willows
• Radishes
• Ramps
• Red Curly Willow
• Red Dogwood
• Rhubarb
• Spanish
• Black Radishes
• Specialty and Organic Cheeses
• Spinach
• Spring and Winter Onions
• Sunchokes
• Vegetable Transplants
• Watercress
• Willow
• Wreaths