iowa summer dinner // summer sweet corn fritters

Sweet corn season in Iowa is here, and hopefully here to stay for a long time.

You can tell when the sweet corn is ready at the Washington Farmers Market when the east side of the square is overflowing with people elbowing their way to one, or maybe two tables, piled high with picked-that-morning sweet corn.

Young high school kids in t-shirts with the sleeves cut off, grubby baseball caps or maybe old seed hats, and biceps bigger than my thigh (presumably from hours of de-tasseling corn fields, picking rocks, or walking the beans), try to keep up with the throng of people practically throwing money at them in order to get their plastic bag of 13 years of corn for five bucks - or maybe it was four. When the pile of the table in fewer than 2 ears thick, they hop into the pickup truck that is backed up as close as possible and begin piling on more, continuing to catch the dollars thrown their way.




Arguably, there is no better way to eat sweet corn than hot of the grill, slathered in butter with a generous sprinkle of salt. Once in a while though, it is nice to highlight Iowa's best ingredient in another way - and these sweet corn fritters do a marvelous job of doing just that.

Adapted from Nigel Slater's Classic Sweet Corn Fritters, this dinner came together in under 30 minutes and comprised of mostly ingredients from the garden and Washington County.

Iowa Summer Sweet Corn Fritters
with yogurt chive sauce, sauteed swiss chard and garden tomato salad

Yogurt Chive Sauce //
1/2 cup organic cream-on-top plain yogurt (local ingredient!)
1.5 tablespoons chives, chopped (garden ingredient!)
1 small garlic clove, minced (garden ingredient!)

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Sauteed Swiss Chard //
1 tablespoon organic butter (local ingredient!)
1 pound swiss chard (garden ingredient!)
salt and pepper

Heat butter in a large pan. Clean chard, remove stems and chop into small pieces. Add stems into pan and sauté five minutes. Chop chard leaves into bite size pieces, add to pan and sauté five more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Sweet Corn Fritters //
3 ears sweet corn, kernels removed (about 2 cups) (local ingredient!)
1 whole egg (local ingredient!)
2 egg whites (local ingredient!)
1.5 tablespoons self rising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
pepper

Heat a griddle to 350*.
In a bowl, stir together sweet corn, one whole egg, flour, salt and pepper. In another bowl, whisk egg whites until stiff and then gently fold into sweet corn mixture. Grease griddle with butter (sweet corn loves butter, not oil!) Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out generous portions of the batter onto the griddle and cook until golden brown, flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Serve on top of swiss chard, add a dollop of yogurt chive sauce and serve along side a simple summer tomato salad (4 small tomatoes, quartered, tossed with a bit of olive oil, apple cider vinegar and a bit of parsley).

2012 tasters choice salsa contest

Two salsas.

Six ribbons.

One happy Thursday.

The 2012 Washington farmers market "Tasters Choice" salsa contest was held a few weeks ago.

The awards were handed out this afternoon.

My cherry salsa was queen:

• 1st place - most votes overall
• 2nd place - most 1st choice votes
• 1st place - most 2nd choice votes

My grilled sweet corn-zucchini salsa was very consistent:

• 4th place - most votes overall
• 4th place - most 1st choice votes
• 4th place - most 2nd choice votes

But just like last year, Tim at Cafe Dodici was one step ahead of me, winning most votes for the 1st choice category. 

Next year....next year.

*********************************

It was another great market for selling bread, cookies and macaroons! I am loving this new endeavor and need to figure out how to spend more time doing it! 

farmers market vendor

I took a leap last Thursday and, much to the delight of my family, finally decided to set up shop at the Washington's Farmers Market and sell a few of my creations.

Of course, I did this in true "Kier-fashion" and waited until the last possible minute to get everything ready, which meant juggling work and baking through the wee hours of the morning the day before.

And then juggling emails and pulling cookies out of the oven the day of.

And besides not running the most efficient machine, I would not have changed a thing.

I brought just a few things to test out the water.



















I quickly loaded up the car with just a few minutes to spare, stopped at the bank to get some cash and then made my way to the square, where I was given a primo spot because of my first time vendor status.



The table was set and I nervously waited for the market to start.



And when it did, I already had a line waiting to buy my stuff.

Granted it was a line of one person, but still...a line.

Ha.







Nic came to hang out with me around 5:30 and was surprised at my table. Since I was frantically trying to figure out how to package everything after he went back to work from lunch, he pictured me with a table and a bunch of ziplock bags scattered about.

Thankfully WalMart came through as a pinch hitter and had everything I needed.

(Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever say that!)



Within 30 minutes, I sold out of all of my bread.

30 minutes later, all of the almond joy macaroons were gone.

And 30 minutes after that, I was packing up and heading to JP's 207 for a drink + dinner to celebrate my first successful farmers market.

It was a success in a few other ways too. An organic farmer that I have been speaking to for the last few months asked if I would be interested in baking for a new CSA that will be starting next year. And the owner of my favorite coffee shop + restaurant in town, asked me when I would start baking for their shop.

Score.

See, good things can happen when you take the first step towards realizing your dreams.

quinoa with grilled sweet corn & red onions {farmers market finds}

A dinner featuring a few farmers market finds. Iowa sweet corn (grown in Muscatine), red onions (grown by a lady I work out with) and basil (from my garden) are combined with quinoa that is drizzled with a honey lemon vinaigrette that highlights locally produced honey.

Quinoa with Grilled Sweet Corn & Red Onions
Inspired by a recipe posted on Iowa Girl Eats a few weeks back, I made a few minor adjustments to suit our tastes and produce on hand.



You'll need::

• 1/4 cup coconut milk*
• 1.5 cups vegetable broth*
• 3/4 cup rinsed quinoa
• 2 ears sweet corn
• 1 small red onion
• coconut oil
• salt and pepper

To prepare::

• In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk, vegetable broth and quinoa to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. *Alternatively you could use 1.75 cups of water.
• Preheat your grill to medium-high
• Lightly brush the corn and onions with coconut oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on grill and cook about 2 minutes per side. Watch closely as you really just want to cook the corn and onion slightly, giving them nice char marks.
• Remove from heat and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, prepare the dressing.

You'll need::

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon minced basil (I would use more next time!)
• 1 clove garlic - minced
• 1 tablespoon honey
• salt and pepper to taste

To prepare::

• Combine all ingredients (except salt and pepper) in a small jar. Cover and shake vigorously until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

When corn and onion are cool enough to handle - remove kernels from the corn cob and chop onions into medium-sized chunks. To remove the kernels from the cob, lay the ear of corn on a cutting board and slice strips off, rotating the cob as you go. 

Stir the corn, onion and dressing into the quinoa, top with some basil and serve!

Even your husband who is a self described "hater of all things lemon" will gobble it up, help himself to another bowl, and quietly declare that maybe, just maybe his taste-buds are maturing, and maybe, he might actually like lemon. But just maybe.

weekend cooking results

Aaaand the results are in.

From this:



...and this:



To this:



I figured I was chained to the stove for approximately 12 hours this weekend (like any good little wife should be), slaving away over my farmers markets goodies, until my freezers screamed no more!


Only a few items went unscathed (zucchini, apples, hungarian peppers and paw paws) and the was turned into some farm fresh eats that we can enjoy this winter.

• 12 pints stewed tomatoes (too lazy/not enough herbs to make spaghetti sauce)
• 5 1/2 pints roasted roma tomatoes
• 9 pints pumpkin puree
• 2 pints roasted bell peppers
• 6 pints pumpkin butter
• 6.5 pints almond butter (not a farmers market find, but still...)
• 4 loaves bread (2 pumpkin, 2 bananna - both yeast breads, not sweet)
• 5 bags green beans
• 2 bags acorn squash
• 2 bags butternut squash
• 2 bags spaghetti squash (overcooked spaghetti squash, hopefully it is still good!)
• 3 bags kale

Believe it or not, if I could have kept going, I would have.

All in all though, it was a very productive weekend in the kitchen! :)

{iowa city} farmers market finds

Up and at 'em super early this morning to hit up the Iowa City farmers market to supplement all of the produce I scored at Washington's on Thursday.

Check it out...!




Arugula and Lake of the Woods Bread


More tomatoes and kale, lots and lots of kale!


Three pounds of green beans


Bell peppers and organic garlic


I aslo gobbled up a few apple cider donut holes and an amazing burrito stuffed with kale, leaks, zucchini, organic eggs and hot sauce. Best.burrito.ever.

Time to chain myself to the stove like a good little wife! Yesterday I froze nine pints of pureed squash, and I have hardly made a dent in my loot!

Back soon with the results of my endeavors!

farmers market finds

I am alive.

Just in case you were worried.

Life has been busy. And although things are not slowing down all that much, I have been able to take a few moments here and there to breathe.

Today was a busy day that began at 4:20AM an included time on the road, Rotary, and an afternoon spent working at my favorite coffee shop, Dodici's Shop, and attending my favorite town activity, the farmers market.

I practically needed a trailer to haul home all of the produce I picked up today!

Check it out.



All of this for around $40. Not to shabby!

Oh wait, did you just call me crazy? You bet. But I will be a single woman this weekend and I plan to spend my time at the Iowa City's Farmers Market and then home, in the kitchen, getting ready to hunker down for winter.



Clockwise from upper left: Iowa paw paw, butternut squash, acorn squash, hungarian wax peppers


Green and purple beans


Zucchini, sweet potato, spaghetti squash


Three third place ribbons for my peach-pineapple recipe I entered into Washington's annual salsa contest two weeks ago!! Third place in each of the following categories - 1st choice, 2nd choice, most votes.


These items were not picked up at the farmers market, but are equally as awesome and local - roma tomatoes from my favorite farmer Kevin, and pink banana squash from Kathy's Pumpkin Patch. Pumpkin puree and pumpkin butter are on my list of items to make this weekend!


Gala and Jonathan apples from Apple Tree Orchard and Farm in Lockridge, IA


Hmmm....with all of this produce, I am thinking I might want to dig a root cellar out back this weekend. Anyone want to help a girl out?

Back with more soon, I promise.

summer lasagna {vegan}

Okay, so it is not the prettiest photo, but this Summer Lasagna that I made last week was truly outstanding. The star ingredient was the second half of the huge yellow squash I harvested from my garden last week, and when paired with the rest of the ingredients and some amazing basil hummus, I found myself "mmmmm-ing" with every bite I took.

Summer Lasagna {vegan}



In the mix::

• kernels from three ears of sweet corn
• 1/2 large yellow squash, sliced thinly lengthwise (for your lasagna noodles)
• 4 new potatoes, sliced into thin rounds
• 1/2 candy onion, slices into thin rounds
• a few handfuls of organic baby spinach
• 1 cup of chickpeas tossed in a teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 cup basil hummus (recipe below)

In a colander over a large bowl, layer squash and sprinkle with salt. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. (If your squash was smaller and not ginormous like mine, you could probably skip this step).

Begin preparing your lasagna by layering all of the ingredients in a 9 x 13 pan in the following order,  squash, 1/2 cup basil hummus, new potatoes, onion, corn, and one handful of spinach. Repeat that layer one more time saving enough squash for one more layer, and just a bit of corn and onions to sprinkle over the top.

Top everything off with the chickpeas and bake in a 350* oven for 1 hour. Place under the broiler for just a few minutes to crisp up the top.



The dish really was spectacular and we are still eating leftovers a few days later. Every time we eat it, I ask Nic what changes he would make and he had a great idea to add a layer of sweet potatoes. I love that idea because I think the sweetness would really compliment the sweetness of the corn and it would add another layer of creaminess to the dish.



We served the lasanga up with our first tomatoes of the season, grown by someone else in town. I can't wait for all of the green tomatoes in my garden to start ripen up!

Basil Hummus
This basil might be my favorite yet. Used in the recipe for lasagna above, it does a nice job replacing the traditional cheese layer.

In the mix::

• 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed but save the cooking liquid
• 1/2 T tahini
• 6 T of the bean cooking liquid (or water)
• 1.5 T olive oil
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves

Combine everything in a food processor and process until smooth.

summer squash gratin with sweet corn and new potatoes

Remember this beauty of a photo I took last Thursday after snagging some delicious looking produce from the farmers market and my garden?



Seriously, I think I might print and frame it and hang it in my kitchen. I am sure gazing at it during the dreary cold winter months in Iowa will instantly snap me out of a funk and send me back to thoughts of summertime.

Well, after a long time baking away in the oven, Nic and I feasted on the flavors of summer.



Side by side:



Seven main ingredients + spices and vegetable stock = a simple, yet elegant, summer dish.

Summer Squash Gratin with Sweet Corn and New Potatoes

In the mix::

• 1/2 huge summer squash, sliced into thin rounds
• 1/2 sweet onion, sliced into thin rounds
• 3 new potatoes, sliced into thin rounds
• kernels from 2 ears of sweet corn
• 3 small tomatoes, sliced into thin rounds
• 5 basil leaves, roughly chopped (I would use more next time)
• 1/2 cup chickpeas
• 1/2 T olive oil
• 1 t garlic powder
• 1.5 cups vegetable stock
• Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375* and grease a nine in pie plate with a little bit of olive oil.

In a small bowl, mix the chickpeas with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, garlic powder and a bit of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Prepare the gratin. Beginning on the outer edge of the pie plate, layer your vegeatbles in the following order; squash, potato, tomato, onion and a sprinkle of sweet corn. Continue until the pie plate is filled.

I then gently tucked the basil in between a few of the layers, however, I think next time I would double the basil and include a piece in between each layer.

Pour the vegetable stock over the vegetable layer, being careful not to overflow pie plate. You might not need the entire amount, just enough to come about one-half of the way up the veggie layer.

Gratins typically have breadcrumbs or cheese on the top, but since I had no bread and opted not to use cheese, I thought throwing some chickpeas on top sounded like my best bet. And it was a great idea. So, top your gratin with the chickpeas (or breadcrumbs/cheese) and place into the oven for about one hour.

When the vegetables are fork tender and the top is beginning to brown, turn on the broiler and allow the top and chickpeas to crisp up a bit (about 3-5 minutes).



The roasted chickpeas - my favorite part and a fabulous addition. The rest of the dish was really delicious as well. It was a simple dish with mellow flavors. Like I said above, I think I would up the basil next time around. Another great idea would be to toss the vegetables in a bit of olive oil flavored with an herb of your choice (basil, thyme, rosemary...) and let the vegetables marinate for a few hours before baking.



Ultimately, this was a great dish that highlighted a vegetable the I grew (did I tell you that yet?!) and some awesome seasonal produce that was grown right here in town.

farmers market finds - july 14

Another great night at the farmers market! But first, check this out:



That my friends, is squash that I grew in my garden.

Did you get that?

Squash.

That I grew.

In.My.Garden.

These suckers are huge - like at least 1.5 feet long. Yeah, maybe I should have picked them sooner, but they seriously grew about 4 inches every single night, so by the time I actually got out there to pick them, they were ginormous!

So being that I finally picked these suckers, I knew they hard to be the star of tonight's dinner.  I asked a few people for some inspiration, and was overloaded with great suggestions. This squash will indeed be the star of tonight's dinner, as well as Friday's, Saturday's and Sunday's.

With an idea in mind, I biked to the square to hit up the farmers market. Here's my loot:



Tomatoes, new potatoes, candy onions and 13 ears of sweet corn. All for a whopping $11.

A little bit of everything + my squash,  made it into tonight's dinner. It's baking away in the oven right now, so I have no idea if it is going to be good - but I can tell you this, it sure looks pretty!



How can it not taste good?