Eat It

This morning, I got up bright and early to head down to the Farmer's Market. My primary purpose for going was to get some cut flowers to use as a centerpiece for the reception that I agreed to organize for the church tomorrow, but I found some other great stuff there, too. So, in the first installment of what I hope will become a regular feature of this blog, these are today's purchases.

First, I decided to buy something for breakfast because I knew that I would be spending all day baking (see the next post for details). I found a booth where a woman was selling baked goods and I chose an apricot scone and a Hungarian cake with blueberry topping. The flavors were okay, but whoever made them got too happy with the mixer because they were way over mixed and tough, so I won't be buying these again.

I also bought a head of red leaf lettuce and some green garlic from another man:

I have never had green garlic before, but I was really looking forward to trying it. Green garlic is a springtime delicacy that you can only find in Farmer's Markets and in your own yard if you grow your own garlic. This is what garlic looks like before it develops large bulbs and the season for green garlic is fairly short--May is the cut off in most places, although it might last longer here in the Northeast. Anyway, these look like tiny leeks and they have a delicate garlic flavor--not mild, but a delicately sharp garlic flavor if you can imagine that. You can eat it raw or cook it and I plan to try all different preparations--I'll let you know how it turns out.

After baking for a few hours this morning, I took a break to let the dishwasher run and to make lunch. I decided to make a dressing for my fresh red leaf lettuce out of the green garlic--I used one head/stalk/piece/whatever you call it of green garlic, roughly chopped, some mayonnaise, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. I don't have any measurements for you, I just did this until I got the consistency and taste that I wanted. Oh, and I had to add a little water. I blended it together in my mini-chopper because I killed my food processor making pie crust a few months ago (seriously--it was smoking and one part of it burned off).

When I had the consistency and taste that I wanted, I drizzled the dressing over a simple salad of lettuce and tomato and I warmed up an olive roll. This was so good! I am a big fan of simple foods with lots of flavor and this dressing is just that--a little spicy and tangy from the green garlic and lemon juice. I think that it would be even better with some herbs added--maybe parsley or chives. The main ingredient, the green garlic, was the strongest flavor and the lemon juice, salt, and pepper complimented it nicely.

What about the flowers, you ask? They'll show up in the next post, but they're beautiful. All in all, a fairly good experience at the Farmer's Market today and I can't wait to try the green garlic in lots of other dishes.