Farmers Market Cooking

The Farmer’s Market has been changing to fall in the past couple of weeks and now we are seeing figs, apples, beautiful three colored peppers and eggplant.
I visited the Mar Vista market yesterday and enjoyed shopping for my class this week at Surfas; Healthy Mediterranean. This was one of the first times I have been able to get all the ingredients I needed for a class in one visit to the market. I will be using eggplant, garlic, dill, cilantro, parsley, thyme , yogurt, feta and figs in this class and look forward to making some delicious dishes.
I have truly enjoyed cooking with seasonal produce and living more in tune with nature this summer. We had a garden on our roof and successfully grew tomatoes, lettuce, lemons, rosemary, basil and mint. There is something very satisfying about going out and cutting your own herbs or slicing a home grown tomato for a snack with nothing else added but a pinch of salt. I look forward to adding a few more herbs and possibly trying something random like cucumbers or chili peppers to my garden. Now that I see how easy it is to grow produce even with only a small roof space I am gung ho!
I have been cooking more than ever and trying all kinds of new dishes from Bengal Shrimp to Chapati bread my Indian repertoire has grown to a large selection of dishes after attending a fabulous private Master class in NYC this summer with Julie Sahni.
Now I can make a perfect Indian meal and have been teaching these classes throughout the summer. It is all about the spices and having shopped at the Indian markets that are easy to find on the West side I now have two full drawers of spices, legumes, seeds and leaves. I have a new found respect and awareness for the complexity of Indian food and have found many of the vegetables at the Farmer’s Market. There are many Asian vendors who carry the unusual squashes, greens and roots that I learned how to prepare with Julie.
Here are a few of the recipes that I have developed for the classes mentioned above. I hope you enjoy them and guarantee you will be impressed with yourself.


Stuffed Okra- Bhara Bhindi
Serves 4

Ingredients
Spice mixture:
2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed or ground
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
½ teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon mango powder- Amchoor
¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 pound okra, preferably fresh
2 - 3 tablespoons Canola oil
1 cup small onion, sliced into rounds

Procedure
1. Combine the spice mixture in a bowl.
2. Slit okra lengthwise to make a cavity, leaving it whole. Stuff the okra with spice mixture.
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the okra and onion and shake the pan to keep them in one layer. Cook, turning often, until they are slightly brown, about 4 minutes. Reduce the heat and cover the pan. Cook until the okra is tender, about 5 minutes. Uncover and continue cook until the excess moisture evaporates and the okra is streaked brown and the onion is caramelized, about 4 minutes.
4. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Spicy Curried Potatoes
Serves 6

Ingredients
2 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes, washed
1 Tb. coconut oil
½ tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. red chili powder
1 tsp. salt
8 kari leaves
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 tsp. ajwain, toasted
3 Tb. chopped cilantro

Procedure
1. Bring the potatoes to a boil in a medium saucepan filled with cold water and a pinch of salt. Simmer until tender about 20 minutes. Drain, peel and cut into cubes.
2. Heat a large skillet over high heat and add the coconut oil. Add the spices and lower the heat to medium, toast for a minute and then add the potatoes.
3. Cook shaking the pan back and forth until coated with the spices and heated through about 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Serve with chopped cilantro.

Roasted Eggplant and Garlic Puree
This recipe makes 1 1/2 cups

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes

Ingredients
1 eggplant, about 1 1/2 pounds, halved lengthwise
2 heads garlic, unpeeled, separated
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Zest of 1 lemon
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 package whole wheat pita bread, cut into triangles
Cilantro leaves, garnish

Procedure
1. Heat the oven to 350F.
2. Sprinkle the flesh side of the eggplant with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet cut side down. Add the garlic cloves and roast in the oven until softened, about 40 to 45 minutes. Check the garlic after 20 minutes if it's softened when pierced with the tip of a knife remove it to a small bowl. Continue roasting the eggplant until completely softened.
3. Allow the garlic to cool. Remove the eggplant from the oven and cool slightly. Scrape out the flesh from the skin with a spoon and transfer the flesh to a sieve. Place the sieve over a bowl to drain the excess water and discard the skin. Transfer the eggplant to a food processor. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins and add to the eggplant with the zest, juice, oil, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper to taste. Pulse a few times to make a coarse puree.
4. Increase the oven to 400F. Place the pita triangles on two baking sheets and toast until they are crisp and slightly golden about 7 minutes.
5. Transfer the eggplant dip to a serving bowl and garnish with the cilantro leaves. Serve with the pita toasts.