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Eggplant Okra Bhadji

posted by Mary Anne Erickson

Aug 18

Our friends at Gill Farms in Hurley, New York keep surprising us with beautiful, tasty, healthy vegetables. Life is too short to only eat broccoli! So come on in and try some of the wonderful vegetables we have been preparing. Expand your mind and your palate!

Today’s delivery included multicolored mini-eggplants and gorgeous okra.  There is definitely much more to do with okra than making gumbo, (which we love) so to highlight these fascinating vegetables I made an Indian inspired dish, called a “bhadji”, delicately seasoned with ginger, tamarind and chili for today’s plat du jour.

The fresh cranberry beans we cooked yesterday are another late summer treat, truly amazing!  I folded these into a clove, cardamon scented rice, sort of like an Indian version of the Cajan “dirty rice”.

To finish the dish we’ve paired  a nice cool cucumber yogurt raita, with cucumbers from Gill Farms, of course, and some fresh herbs from our garden out back. We're loving the bounty of the harvest in August, come share it with us!

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Farm-to-table Gardiniera

posted by Mary Anne Erickson

Aug 13

 

We were just asked to provide a "farm-to-table" recipe for a local magazine called VISITvortex and of course we knew that we had to create something with the fresh produce we're getting in every day from our local favorite Gills Farm in Hurley, New York. I turned around to ask our chefs what they had in mind and Jonathan had just put out our plat du jour today, Fresh Trout with Olive Salad (inspired by Muffuletta Olive Salad Recipe from New Orleans).

We make our own version of "Gardiniera" with the beautiful tri-color (purple, green, and white) cauliflower from Gills Farm. Cut the cauliflower into similar sized florets and blanch. Then lightly toss with red wine vinegar and cool. Insert this simple version of Gardiniera in the following recipe to create the topping you see for the trout.

Muffuletta Olive Salad 1 1/2 Cups Picholine Olives, Pitted 1/2 Cup Calamatta Olives (or Black) Pitted 1 Cup Gardiniera (Pickled Cauliflower, carrots, celery, Pepperoncini) 1 Tbsp. Capers 3 each Fresh Garlic cloves, chopped 1/8 Cup Celery, thinly sliced 1 Tbsp. Italian Parsley, finely chopped 1 Tbsp. Fresh oregano (from our garden) or 2 tsp. dried 1/4 Cup Pimientos (Roasted red peppers) 1 Tbsp. Green Onions, thinly sliced 1 finely diced jalapeno pepper Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground pepper to taste 1 tsp. Crushed red pepper flakes 3 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar Extra Virgin Olive Oil about 1 - 1 1/2 Cups Finely mince first 11 ingredients and then combine with the red pepper flakes, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly, let stand for one hour for flavors to marry. This is a great condiment for grilled fish, steak, chicken or as in New Orleans - on a sandwich - Muffuletta or otherwise!

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November 2011

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September 2010

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July 2012

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July 2011

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June 2012

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August 2012

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August 2009

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October 2011

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June 2009

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