Tag: heirloom tomatoes

August Is Time for a Stillman’s BLT

There is nothing like a mid-summer BLT sandwich.

The one above features Stillman's Farm heirloom tomatoes, salad greens, and Applewood smoked bacon from Sillman Quality Meats. The bread is from a local bakery. That slice of avocado that we use to replace mayo is the only thing not from a local source.

It's an easy build. Slice and toast sourdough bread, top with sliced avocado. You can mash it, if you like, but sliced with a grind of pepper is fine.

There are purists, like Chef Tony Maws, who will only serve tomatoes when they reach their peak of local flavor in August. I admit to accepting lesser tomatoes outside of this month, but I do go out of my way to serve the best of the local ones each season. Here I added slabs of Stillman's full-flavored heirlooms that tempted us at the Boston Public Market.

Next comes slabs of farmer's cut bacon from Stillman Quality Meats.

Finally a handful of lettuce from the big bag of salad greens we picked up at Stillman's stand at the Copley Square Farmers Market.

Put it all together and you have one of the truly great summer season meals.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny Cherubino

August 11, 2016
We’re Spoiled by Variety in Our Produce!

It’s a sign of the times that this array of cauliflower only had one head of the traditional white variety surrounded by green, purple, and yellow versions.

Shoppers opt for heirloom tomatoes: white, Asian, fairytale or purple eggplant. Carrots, radishes, and Swiss chard come in rainbow colors.

The UMass Cold Spring Orchard research facility in Amherst grows more than 100 varieties of apples. Perhaps apples are one of the produce items that we have routinely selected by variety over the years. Specific apple varieties for eating, baking, applesauce, and cider making have been long established. Regional favorites like our own Roxbury Russet have come back into favor.

Now, a much wider selection of many other locally grown fruit and vegetables are available from Massachusetts farms. As you walk from stand to stand, you’ll see more varieties of berries and longer seasons made possible by staging plantings for early, mid, and late season.

Greens

It’s been a long time since I saw a head of iceberg lettuce at a farmers market. I remember when the first offerings of baby greens and salad mixes appeared on the scene and were on my shopping list every week. Now, I could fill a shopping bag with different heads of lettuce for a salad to feed ten friends.

Today, I’m disappointed if I can’t find baby arugula or micro greens because they have sold out before I arrived. I like mixing purple, yellow, and white potatoes in a salad. And, I’m really disappointed when I have to shop a regular supermarket with fewer choices in the fresh produce section.

Yes, our local farmers have spoiled me with great options and I'm glad that more of them will be selling year-round to satisfy my heightened expectations!

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

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Words: Penny Cherubino (Adapted for BostonZest from one of her Fresh & Local newspaper columns)
Photos: ©2010- 2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino

October 28, 2015
Rogue River Caveman Blue Cheese

The most recent addition to our blue cheese life list was Rogue River Caveman Blue Cheese. Penny spotted it at the River Street Whole Foods in Cambridge and added a piece to our selection for that evening's cheese supper. It was so good, we finished it with one of our last heirloom tomatoes the next night.

While Rogue River Blue will remain our favorite from this cheese maker, Caveman will be a welcome alternative.

Describing the Flavor

On their site, lead cheesemaker Jason Garcia describes Caveman as "sweet, fruity with vanilla tones, and earthy notes. It’s addictive," he says. "It’s savory, with no tang at all, very smooth and mellow."

Janet Fletcher wrote in SF Gate, "What I notice first with Caveman is the rich butter color of the background, which makes me suspect the cows enjoy fresh grass at least some of the time… Caveman manages to be bold and concentrated without being salty, biting or hot, qualities that make many consumers reluctant to purchase blues."

We try to include a photo of the label with these posts because that will give you pricing information and whatever details the vendor includes.

What to Drink with the Caveman

While the creamery suggests a stout as a match for the cheese, Janet Fletcher enjoyed an oloroso sherry as the wine lover's option.

Here is a list of places where you can buy Rogue River Cheese.

Do you include blue cheeses on your cheese trays? Do you have a favorite or do you try different ones each time?

As we approach the season when we move indoors and gather friends and family, we'll be featuring more of our favorite wine and cheese. And to make it easy to find all that we have written on these two topics, we have them collected in easy to find categories.

Here is our wine collection.

And, here are other items from our Cheese Tray!

What's on your Cheese Shopping List? Here are some great books about cheese. These make wonderful gifts for a cheese lover. And, when you shop Amazon from here, they put some coins in our tip jar.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 PennyCherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

October 28, 2013
Rogue River Caveman Blue Cheese

The most recent addition to our blue cheese life list was Rogue River Caveman Blue Cheese. Penny spotted it at the River Street Whole Foods in Cambridge and added a piece to our selection for that evening's cheese supper. It was so good, we finished it with one of our last heirloom tomatoes the next night.

While Rogue River Blue will remain our favorite from this cheese maker, Caveman will be a welcome alternative.

Describing the Flavor

On their site, lead cheesemaker Jason Garcia describes Caveman as "sweet, fruity with vanilla tones, and earthy notes. It’s addictive," he says. "It’s savory, with no tang at all, very smooth and mellow."

Janet Fletcher wrote in SF Gate, "What I notice first with Caveman is the rich butter color of the background, which makes me suspect the cows enjoy fresh grass at least some of the time… Caveman manages to be bold and concentrated without being salty, biting or hot, qualities that make many consumers reluctant to purchase blues."

We try to include a photo of the label with these posts because that will give you pricing information and whatever details the vendor includes.

What to Drink with the Caveman

While the creamery suggests a stout as a match for the cheese, Janet Fletcher enjoyed an oloroso sherry as the wine lover's option.

Here is a list of places where you can buy Rogue River Cheese.

Do you include blue cheeses on your cheese trays? Do you have a favorite or do you try different ones each time?

As we approach the season when we move indoors and gather friends and family, we'll be featuring more of our favorite wine and cheese. And to make it easy to find all that we have written on these two topics, we have them collected in easy to find categories.

Here is our wine collection.

And, here are other items from our Cheese Tray!

What's on your Cheese Shopping List? Here are some great books about cheese. These make wonderful gifts for a cheese lover. And, when you shop Amazon from here, they put some coins in our tip jar.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 PennyCherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

October 28, 2013
Rogue River Caveman Blue Cheese

The most recent addition to our blue cheese life list was Rogue River Caveman Blue Cheese. Penny spotted it at the River Street Whole Foods in Cambridge and added a piece to our selection for that evening's cheese supper. It was so good, we finished it with one of our last heirloom tomatoes the next night.

While Rogue River Blue will remain our favorite from this cheese maker, Caveman will be a welcome alternative.

Describing the Flavor

On their site, lead cheesemaker Jason Garcia describes Caveman as "sweet, fruity with vanilla tones, and earthy notes. It’s addictive," he says. "It’s savory, with no tang at all, very smooth and mellow."

Janet Fletcher wrote in SF Gate, "What I notice first with Caveman is the rich butter color of the background, which makes me suspect the cows enjoy fresh grass at least some of the time… Caveman manages to be bold and concentrated without being salty, biting or hot, qualities that make many consumers reluctant to purchase blues."

We try to include a photo of the label with these posts because that will give you pricing information and whatever details the vendor includes.

What to Drink with the Caveman

While the creamery suggests a stout as a match for the cheese, Janet Fletcher enjoyed an oloroso sherry as the wine lover's option.

Here is a list of places where you can buy Rogue River Cheese.

Do you include blue cheeses on your cheese trays? Do you have a favorite or do you try different ones each time?

As we approach the season when we move indoors and gather friends and family, we'll be featuring more of our favorite wine and cheese. And to make it easy to find all that we have written on these two topics, we have them collected in easy to find categories.

Here is our wine collection.

And, here are other items from our Cheese Tray!

What's on your Cheese Shopping List? Here are some great books about cheese. These make wonderful gifts for a cheese lover. And, when you shop Amazon from here, they put some coins in our tip jar.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 PennyCherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

October 28, 2013
Farmers’ Market Pasta from Our Archives
This recipe for a quick, fresh, farmers’ market pasta was buried deep in our archives from 2008. Today, we’re posting it anew so that a recent generation of BostonZest readers can try it out.

Farmer’s Market Pasta

When summer tomatoes and corn are at their best, let them star in this simple, uncooked sauce. You’ll be surprised at how creamy and rich it tastes.

For the sauce:
- 2 or 3 large, ripe tomatoes chopped into 1/2” cubes. (If you find heirloom tomatoes of different colors it will make a prettier pasta. The version in the photo has red, yellow, and green heirloom tomatoes.)
- 1/2 cup of olives pitted and chopped roughly. (Kalamatra olives are fine or if you can find a mix of green and black olives in the deli case, they would be perfect. That’s what I use. If they are in herb seasoning, so much the better)
- 2 to 4 large, fresh basil leaves sliced into chiffonade (very thin strips)
- 1 cup of sweet corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
- 2 or 3 scallions sliced into thin rings
- 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley chopped
- 1 small clove of garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste
- 4 ounces of goat cheese crumbled (One of my recipe testers, cj in Michigan used feta cheese and Kathie in Illinois tried it with Boursin.) Try any soft cheese you like if you don’t like goat cheese. )
Toss all of the sauce ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. This may be made a couple of hours ahead, making this a great dish for entertaining.

For the Pasta:
- 8 oz. dry pasta cooked in salted water according to package directions. We like small shells or orecchiette but any shaped pasta that will help scoop up the sauce is good.
- Drain the pasta but don’t worry about shaking off all the water, it will help form the sauce. (I usually scoop out a cup of the hot pasta water before I drain the pasta just to be sure I have some if the mixture looks a tad dry.)
Toss the pasta with the tomato mixture adding some of the reserved pasta water if needed to form a light, creamy sauce. Serve family-style in a big bowl or plate in individual soup or pasta bowls.

Garnish (optional)

Garnish each serving with a few basil leaves and, if you like, pass a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano around the table and let each person grate their own.

Note: Today I took a bit of a short cut that added a big taste to this recipe. Instead of plain goat cheese, I bought a marinated goat cheese from Crystal Brook Farm at the Copley Square Farmers’ Market. This already had olive oil, garlic herbs, and pepper.

I prepped my heirloom tomatoes and corn from Stillman’s Farm, chopped more heirloom tomatoes, parsley, basil, and garlic from Atlas Farm, and the result was absolutely delicious.

This is a recipe that encourages improvisation. Let us know what riffs you play with it.

What’s on your Food Lover’s Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2008 Penny Cherubino
July 26, 2013
Farmers’ Market Pasta from Our Archives
This recipe for a quick, fresh, farmers’ market pasta was buried deep in our archives from 2008. Today, we’re posting it anew so that a recent generation of BostonZest readers can try it out.

Farmer’s Market Pasta

When summer tomatoes and corn are at their best, let them star in this simple, uncooked sauce. You’ll be surprised at how creamy and rich it tastes.

For the sauce:
- 2 or 3 large, ripe tomatoes chopped into 1/2” cubes. (If you find heirloom tomatoes of different colors it will make a prettier pasta. The version in the photo has red, yellow, and green heirloom tomatoes.)
- 1/2 cup of olives pitted and chopped roughly. (Kalamatra olives are fine or if you can find a mix of green and black olives in the deli case, they would be perfect. That’s what I use. If they are in herb seasoning, so much the better)
- 2 to 4 large, fresh basil leaves sliced into chiffonade (very thin strips)
- 1 cup of sweet corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
- 2 or 3 scallions sliced into thin rings
- 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley chopped
- 1 small clove of garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste
- 4 ounces of goat cheese crumbled (One of my recipe testers, cj in Michigan used feta cheese and Kathie in Illinois tried it with Boursin.) Try any soft cheese you like if you don’t like goat cheese. )
Toss all of the sauce ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. This may be made a couple of hours ahead, making this a great dish for entertaining.

For the Pasta:
- 8 oz. dry pasta cooked in salted water according to package directions. We like small shells or orecchiette but any shaped pasta that will help scoop up the sauce is good.
- Drain the pasta but don’t worry about shaking off all the water, it will help form the sauce. (I usually scoop out a cup of the hot pasta water before I drain the pasta just to be sure I have some if the mixture looks a tad dry.)
Toss the pasta with the tomato mixture adding some of the reserved pasta water if needed to form a light, creamy sauce. Serve family-style in a big bowl or plate in individual soup or pasta bowls.

Garnish (optional)

Garnish each serving with a few basil leaves and, if you like, pass a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano around the table and let each person grate their own.

Note: Today I took a bit of a short cut that added a big taste to this recipe. Instead of plain goat cheese, I bought a marinated goat cheese from Crystal Brook Farm at the Copley Square Farmers’ Market. This already had olive oil, garlic herbs, and pepper.

I prepped my heirloom tomatoes and corn from Stillman’s Farm, chopped more heirloom tomatoes, parsley, basil, and garlic from Atlas Farm, and the result was absolutely delicious.

This is a recipe that encourages improvisation. Let us know what riffs you play with it.

What’s on your Food Lover’s Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2008 Penny Cherubino
July 26, 2013
Farmers’ Market Pasta from Our Archives
This recipe for a quick, fresh, farmers’ market pasta was buried deep in our archives from 2008. Today, we’re posting it anew so that a recent generation of BostonZest readers can try it out.

Farmer’s Market Pasta

When summer tomatoes and corn are at their best, let them star in this simple, uncooked sauce. You’ll be surprised at how creamy and rich it tastes.

For the sauce:
- 2 or 3 large, ripe tomatoes chopped into 1/2” cubes. (If you find heirloom tomatoes of different colors it will make a prettier pasta. The version in the photo has red, yellow, and green heirloom tomatoes.)
- 1/2 cup of olives pitted and chopped roughly. (Kalamatra olives are fine or if you can find a mix of green and black olives in the deli case, they would be perfect. That’s what I use. If they are in herb seasoning, so much the better)
- 2 to 4 large, fresh basil leaves sliced into chiffonade (very thin strips)
- 1 cup of sweet corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
- 2 or 3 scallions sliced into thin rings
- 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley chopped
- 1 small clove of garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste
- 4 ounces of goat cheese crumbled (One of my recipe testers, cj in Michigan used feta cheese and Kathie in Illinois tried it with Boursin.) Try any soft cheese you like if you don’t like goat cheese. )
Toss all of the sauce ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. This may be made a couple of hours ahead, making this a great dish for entertaining.

For the Pasta:
- 8 oz. dry pasta cooked in salted water according to package directions. We like small shells or orecchiette but any shaped pasta that will help scoop up the sauce is good.
- Drain the pasta but don’t worry about shaking off all the water, it will help form the sauce. (I usually scoop out a cup of the hot pasta water before I drain the pasta just to be sure I have some if the mixture looks a tad dry.)
Toss the pasta with the tomato mixture adding some of the reserved pasta water if needed to form a light, creamy sauce. Serve family-style in a big bowl or plate in individual soup or pasta bowls.

Garnish (optional)

Garnish each serving with a few basil leaves and, if you like, pass a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano around the table and let each person grate their own.

Note: Today I took a bit of a short cut that added a big taste to this recipe. Instead of plain goat cheese, I bought a marinated goat cheese from Crystal Brook Farm at the Copley Square Farmers’ Market. This already had olive oil, garlic herbs, and pepper.

I prepped my heirloom tomatoes and corn from Stillman’s Farm, chopped more heirloom tomatoes, parsley, basil, and garlic from Atlas Farm, and the result was absolutely delicious.

This is a recipe that encourages improvisation. Let us know what riffs you play with it.

What’s on your Food Lover’s Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2008 Penny Cherubino
July 26, 2013