Pretty Patty Pans..

These are patty pan squash. They look kind of like little flying saucers, would you not agree? Well, the French thought they looked like little cakes that were baked in moulded pans and decided to call them pâtisson, which in Provence, France means “cake from a scalloped mould” and the English shortened that up to “patty”. No matter what they may remind you of, I am here to tell you that they are delicious. If you like the taste of zucchini, you will most definitely love the flavour of these little patty pans. My vote says that these are better than zucchini. I will not deny that they are very similar, but they stand on their own as something different – more nutty, with more substance. Many people remove the insides of this squash, then cook it up and mix it with garlic and other ingredients and then stuff it back into the pretty pan shell,but I decided to slice them up and fry them with some olive oil,garlic and red onion and then made it a meal by serving them along side a quick pesto pasta made with some over abundant basil from my front door pot. Delicious! I found these patty pan squash at Ann Slater”s organic booth at the St.Mary”s Farmers Market, but I am pretty sure I saw these at the Covent Garden Market this time last year, also check for them at Trails End and North London Market as well as at those handy side-of-the-road farm stalls.  Read More

Zucchinis and Purple Potatoes!

I would like to come up with a cool name for these cute little zukes featured above.. but I believe that they are simply called round zucchinis. Ahhh….shucks, I can”t help myself.. they will now forever be called the rocket ball zukes.. there! I picked up these rocket ball zukes at the St. Mary”s farmers market – from Ann Slaters Organics. The St. Mary”s farmers market is open on Saturday mornings, right beside the Canadian tire on Water Street. I also scored these completely weird and wonderful PURPLE potatoes. I believe these to be quite hard to find. I have been spying them in gourmet foodie magazines lately and have been itching to try them. Sean kept saying “weirrrrrd“, and I kept assuring him that they are not weird, just an old variety that fell out of favour with the general public. All around they were tasty, but I think I would do something interesting with them next time to show off their colour – like a potatoe salad.  Read More

St. Mary's Farmers Market

I was out early this Saturday morning, the weather was lousy, it was very cool for the first day of summer, there were huge, dark and menacing rain clouds rolling in, but you would never know it if you did not look up to sky – as all the farmers and vendors were still out showcasing and selling their goods at the St. Mary”s Farmers Market in St. Mary”s. St. Mary”s Ontario is just a short 20 minute drive north east of London, and a trip to this picturesque town is a great opportunity to be a local tourist and support our local community. This market appears small at first glance, but upon closer inspection is jam packed with all kinds of local booty! Locavores looking for a once stop shopping expedition, this may very well be your ticket. Listed below is just a small offering of what I spied with my little eyes during my Saturday morning wander around the food stalls. Fruits and Veg (alot of organic!): spinach, green and red onions, strawberries, garlic scapes,bok choy,sugar snap peas, lettuce, mixed greens, swiss chard, arugula, and rhubarb. These are the Nutty Bakers! Freshly Baked Goodies: pies, muffins, cookies, cakes, breads, sweet squares, loaves, buttertarts, scones, flatbreads, poppyseed and walnut rolls and many other sweet offerings. a very friendly gentleman who sells amazing and tasty stuff including: sausage, goat cheese, eggs, chutneys & much more! Meats: Summer sausage, pork cuts, organic veal (Slaters), organic lean beef (Slaters), regular bacon, peameal bacon, organic eggs and regular eggs, meat pies and cabbage rolls (the nutty bakers), kabob cubes (WikaRebrae Farms), sideribs, smoked ham roasts and more! Fish! Yes, there is fish at this market, Pickerel (walleye), lake trout, whitefish and perch. Today the fish that was available was frozen, but I was told that it was freshly caught out of lake huron 4 days ago and WikaRebrae does sell it fresh whenever it does come in from the fisherman on Saturdays, if not it gets frozen. Other Yummy things I saw: Rasperry Apple juice, Honey, Goats Cheese, Feta cheese and Fresh Flowers. The St. Mary”s Farmer”s Market was established in 1992 and is located at St. Marys Water Street Parking Lot, behind the GOCO Station. It is open Saturdays 8 am to 12 noon from May 17 to October 25. For more information call: 519-229-8575.  Read More