The fruits of the market

So the Geauga County Farmers Market has officially opened, and strawberries abound. But first, the fruits of my shopping and labor from the 5 June market. Greens were the theme of the week:


From Hot-Kiln Farm, I got some Tatsoi, with which I decided to make some Brown Butter Pasta with Tatsoi, recipe courtesy of Backyard Farming. Wunderbar.

I also scored something that resembled Mizuna from Hot-Kiln Farms (which is run by a couple of ceramicists - double bonus!) which I sautéed with smidgen of bacon and onion, finished with a dash of red wine vinegar. 

I found some baby zucchini at the Hershberger Produce stand, which I used to riff on SmittenKitchen's zucchini strand spaghetti, this time quickly sautéing them and a smashed clove of garlic in some olive oil, S/P and finishing some whole wheat spaghetti from Ohio City Pasta. Add some Parmesan and bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice and you are pretty close to heaven. 

The adventure in greens was rounded off by some garlic scapes purchased from Endeavor Farm and turned into Dorie Greenspan's garlic scape pesto. 

I also had some extra parsley from the lamb (see below), which I turned into a pesto, based on that found in Sidewalk Shoes' blog (to which I added more Parmesan). I froze all of them in mini muffin pans, transferring the frozen flavor bombs into a bag - heaven is only a quick thaw away. 

On to the meat:
I was craving some oxtails with my pain au levin, so I stopped by Sand Farm's stand to pick up some oxtails, with which I made my version of my grandfather's recipe (i.e. I am slightly updating his solidly-1950s, pressure cooker recipe):


Braised oxtails, AERS-style
2# oxtails
Flour, dill, marjoram, basil, oregano, S/P (all dried) for dredging
Olive oil - enough to coat the bottom of your braising dish (mine is cast iron)
2 c beef stock (homemade, based upon Ruhlman's chapter on stocks in The Elements of Cooking)
1 c red wine (I used a Barbara d'Alba)
1 c V8 (to channel my grandfather, but some variation of a canned tomato would work too)
Carrots, Onions, Potatoes - chopped robustly and as much as you see fit. (I used 2 large carrots, a bag of pearl onions that were skinned and 4 small red skinned potatoes)
Dried mushrooms - as much as you see fit (I used about 1.5 c)


Begin heating some olive oil in braising pan. Dredge oxtails in flour and dried spice mixture. Preheat oven to 300F. Heat stock on stove to reduce by about half (to concentrate flavor). Brown oxtails in cooking oil. Deglaze the bottom of the pan with wine and return oxtails to pan. Add vegetables and pour the reduced stock and V8 over the mixture. Cover and place in oven for about 3-4 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone. Serve with (more) red wine and bread. 


Of course I got so distracted upon finishing the braise, that I forgot to take a picture, so this one from a winter version (sans mushrooms) will have to suffice:

Finally, I purchased some lamb sirloin from the Great American Lamb Company stand, and made a version of SmittenKitchen's lamb with pistachio tapenade. The leftover tapenade is also wonderful spread on pain au levain with chèvre from Mackenzie Creamery.