A Visit to the Winter Park Farmer's Market and Some Roasted Asparagus

My mother used to say, "You know it is spring when the grocery store has fresh asparagus again."  Every time I see asparagus, I can hear her words, whatever time of year it may be.  Nowadays, produce is flown in from all parts of the world and if you look hard enough, you can find whatever produce your heart desires any time of year.  Yes, fresh produce is always accessible in these parts, but local produce that is in season is still the best.

The past few weeks I have been reading, and planning, and reading some more and  planning some more; getting ready to plant my vegetable garden.  I am going to try a technique this year called "square foot gardening".  You'll be getting updates in the months to come.  Anyway, I was getting kind of antsy about wanting to get this project going, but the weather was not quite warm enough.  It's a good thing I had a trip to Florida planned to help take the edge off my need to rush the season.  The weather here has been GORGEOUS!  Long Island got snow this week.  I'm sorry Long Island.  I was in sunny Vero Beach thinking of all of you back home.  I guess I shouldn't mention that it has been 80 something degrees, breezy, and delightful every day since we arrived.  We got back to Winter Park Friday night, so I'd be sure to make it to the Winter Park Farmer's Market on Saturday morning.  How I love this market!

It's sensory overload.  Everything looks, smells, and tastes so good.  I have a tendency to overbuy when I visit this market.  I kept my head this time, but there are some things you just can't pass up.

Fresh picked strawberries for $6.00 a half flat...OMG!  What's not to love?

What's not to love?

Irish Soda Bread NO. 2

Yup, that's the official name of this soda bread.  Sometime back in the 1980's my mother-in-law gave me a cookbook that was a collection of recipes compiled by the parishioners of her church.  The cookbook was sold as a fundraiser for San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church in Anaheim Hills, California.  They titled it "From the The Monk's Kitchen".  It's a sweet little cookbook full of family recipes; some good, some not so good and some are true gems.

My mother made Irish Soda Bread every St. Patty's day.  She is Irish, McLaughlin is her maiden name,  and always cooked up a corned beef and cabbage dinner along with her soda bread to celebrate the day.  When I was in high school, my friends and I would cut school take a day off and go to the parade in the city.  It was always nice to come home to a warm house filled with the smell of soda bread baking after traveling on the train with a bunch of drunken fools.  When my brother and I moved out of the house she continued the tradition, inviting her brothers and sisters to a St. Patty's day celebration.  She did that for a few years and eventually moved to Florida.  I don't think she ever baked another Irish Soda Bread after leaving New York.  I remember asking her for her recipe, but she had misplaced it in the move.  When I visited her in Florida, my mother gave me 5 files boxes of recipes, and a big box of recipes clipped from newspapers and magazines that hadn't made it to her index cards yet.  She told me to take them all home and keep what I want.  Her cooking days were over, and if she was going to cook anything, she had every recipe she wanted in her head.  I took the recipes and sorting through them was a daunting task.  She had so many Irish Soda Bread recipes, but none looked stained and used, like her other favorite recipes.  Could she have gotten it from a cookbook?  I started looking for a recipe in my own cookbooks when I came across this one "From the Monk's Kitchen".

Father Seamus contributed two soda bread recipes to this book.  They are called Irish Soda Bread NO.1 and Irish Soda Bread No.2.  Intriguing titles, huh?  Heck, with a name like Father Seamus, how could I go wrong.  I was immediately drawn to the NO. 2 recipe.  It had raisins, a touch of sugar and optional caraway seeds.  I like soda bread with caraway.  I usually make several loaves of soda bread this time of year, omitting caraway from one or two loaves for those with a caraway aversion.  I had to experiment with this recipe at first.  You see,  since it is a recipe from a church group, they probably didn't do much proof reading.  The recipe fails to say how long to bake it and at what temperature.  It did't take long to get it right and tweak the recipe slightly.  It has become my favorite soda bread.  I would always bring a loaf to my friend's annual St. Patty's Day celebration.  Lorraine would always say, "We have enough soda bread for tonight.  I'm hiding yours for our private stash to have tomorrow!"  The next year I brought 2, one for now, one for later!  The beautiful thing about this recipe is it yields 2 loaves at a time.  Share a loaf with someone you love!

Simple and Satisfying Chicken Marsala

A few weeks ago I was checking my email when my son Matt popped up on G chat.  We frequently "talk" on G chat, and I have to say,  I am grateful for technology.  It gives me the ability to "bump into" my kids, have a quick chat, and not feel like a pain in the butt mother, constantly bothering my children with phone calls at inopportune times.  Quick chats, texts with and without photos, help keep us connected, where ever their journey takes them, we can keep in touch.

Anyway, Matt popped up on G chat and asked if I could help him out with a Chicken Marsala recipe.  He wanted to surprise Lauren with a homemade dinner when she got home from work that evening.  Lauren was the one who usually had dinner waiting for Matt on nights when he worked late.  Now she is working some late nights and going to school as well.  How sweet I thought to myself, Matt can be such a considerate mush.  I was impressed by his ambition.  Not that Matt wasn't capable, I've just never known Matt to be a "cook".  He makes an awesome smoothie, but he was more of a frozen pizza kind of guy.

I was happy to oblige.  Actually, I had been planning to blog about chicken marsala that weekend and had an easy recipe.  I never got around to writing the blog, but Matt ran with the recipe. Lauren was impressed.

I picked up some nice mushrooms at the market today and Paul asked for a Chicken Marsala dinner.   I figure now's the perfect time to finally write this post.

Dijon Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Garlic Herb Potatoes

What can I say?  I love rack of lamb.  It's something I don't eat often.  As a matter of fact, I hardly ever cooked lamb because my kids and husband wouldn't eat it.  It all started one Easter when my children were very young.  I decided to make a leg of lamb for dinner.  Paul made it known that he wasn't a fan.  I was convinced that he did not like lamb based upon some bad lamb experience he had as a child.  I was going to change his mind.  As soon as the lamb hit the oven, and its aroma filled the house, Paul began making baby lamb noises.  Melissa began to cry, and Matt decided at that moment, he will never eat lamb.  Paul continued to make his baaaaaaa... baaaaaaa sounds, until the roast was done.  I ate alone that Easter,  like I was the monster that killed the lamb?  It really wasn't fair; no one ever made moooing, oinking, or clucking noises when I cooked their favorite meals!

Fast forward about 15 years.  Paul begins to open his mind to lamb...Matt still wouldn't eat it, Melissa hardly ate any meat.  I would occasionally order it when we would dine out; perhaps lamb in a Merlot reduction, grilled baby lamb chops or my favorite, rack of lamb.  Paul would taste it with an open mind.   A friend once served a grilled, marinated leg of lamb and Paul decided that lamb was not so bad after all.  Yes, I think he was traumatized by overcooked mutton before I met him.  Now that the kids are living on their own, I am free to cook what I please without fear of traumatizing anyone.  That's exactly what I did this past Sunday.

I knew Paul would be watching the Daytona 500.  I was feeling ever-so-slightly guilty because I kind of put the kibosh on taking a trip down to Daytona and Florida this week .  I wasn't quite ready for a vacation.  I'm also not a race fan.  I've humored Paul by going to a few races, I just can't share in his enthusiasm.  To make up for my selfishness, I decided to make Paul a special dinner, one that he wouldn't have had in Daytona.  Rack of Lamb, I decided.  I'm going to make him LOVE rack of lamb!  I figured if I encrusted the lamb in enough garlic, herbs, spices, and crunch...how could he resist?  As long as I was mincing up fresh herbs, I minced up a few more for some roasted potatoes.   A good bottle of red wine didn't hurt either.  You know what?  I think I have a full fledged convert on my hands!

Good Morning Granola

Have you ever had homemade granola?  It's one of the simplest things to make, and in my opinion, tastes  far superior to any packaged granola.  When you make your own granola you can develop your own custom blend, controlling the amount of sugar, oil, and add-ins like fruit and nuts.  The possibilities are endless.  It's not a science, there is a basic formula I follow;  8 cups of dry and 1 cup of wet, bake, then mix in some dried fruit and voila... granola!

Suggestions for dry ingredients, use your imagination to total 8 cups:

• Rolled oats
• Wheat germ
• Flax seed
• Almonds
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Sesame seeds
• Coconut
• Wheat bran

Suggestions for wet ingredients, use a combination to total 1 cup:

• Canola oil
• Honey
• Agave nectar
• Molasses
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Maple syrup

You can also add a teaspoon of vanilla, orange zest or your favorite spices to the wet ingredients.

Any dried fruit add-ins are combined after baking.