Given that:
1. The Sandwich Series has been temporarily put to bed. Amen...rest well brother, for now,
2. I need a new series to keep myself motivated and posting new items to Steve Eats, a terrible lassitude envelopes me if I don’t have something specific to guide the wild mind tangle,
3. We drive the farm country of the eastern Long Island virtually every weekend during the Spring and Summer, looking for the best things growing,
I figured the best idea is the most obvious, The Local Plate Series.
The title is mostly self explanatory, but in case you hit the Memorial Day beer, wine or retro cocktail cooler a bit too often this weekend and require a wee slice of clarity, we’ll be sharing some of our best discoveries, maybe a recipe or three and a rough guide the chaotic world of the East End farmstand scene where the Disney-esque, six story American flag waving crane of agri-tourism sidles up next to simple, unmanned, cash only, front yard tables offering the overflow from backyard gardens, hen houses and berry patches.
Without further delay then here’s The Local Plate: Part One:
I am of the mind that every good meal should (but not MUST) start with a good salad and this is certainly the time of year for lettuce:
We owe the bounty of this salad to Sang Lee Farms, North Road, Peconic: iceberg (yes folks...iceberg!) and red leaf lettuces, LI Hydroponic Greenhouses heirloom cherry tomatoes and French radish.
The salad was dressed with an heirloom tomato, honey, scallion vinaigrette. A great way to use up some leftover heirloom tomato salad from lunch, the dressing provided a subtle backing chorus that let the freshness of the salad sing loud and proud.
A recently added stop on our weekend tour, Sang Lee has an amazing variety of organic and hothouse vegetables including a wide, remarkable selection of Asian greens. More on the Asian greens in another Plate.
On the flip side, some might find their prices a bit high, especially for VEGETABLES and I agree to some extent, but as I see it and have proven to my own and Agnes’ chagrin, you can very easily spend $60 on a crappy, high calorie, deep fried lunch/dinner at a fake neighborhood pub grub joint, so is $30 or $40 for delectable, outrageously fresh, can’t buy them in any grocery store vegetables really all that high? I think not.
Besides, if you want value to offset the cost of your vegetables, buy a couple of their amazing roast pork buns. For $1.75 and 20 seconds in the microwave, you get a perfect sweet bun filled with just enough delicious, saucy roast pork.
Nirvana for less than $2.00, that is real value folks!
I eagerly await following the seasons of 2010 just to see what else they will bring to our table.
1. The Sandwich Series has been temporarily put to bed. Amen...rest well brother, for now,
2. I need a new series to keep myself motivated and posting new items to Steve Eats, a terrible lassitude envelopes me if I don’t have something specific to guide the wild mind tangle,
3. We drive the farm country of the eastern Long Island virtually every weekend during the Spring and Summer, looking for the best things growing,
I figured the best idea is the most obvious, The Local Plate Series.
The title is mostly self explanatory, but in case you hit the Memorial Day beer, wine or retro cocktail cooler a bit too often this weekend and require a wee slice of clarity, we’ll be sharing some of our best discoveries, maybe a recipe or three and a rough guide the chaotic world of the East End farmstand scene where the Disney-esque, six story American flag waving crane of agri-tourism sidles up next to simple, unmanned, cash only, front yard tables offering the overflow from backyard gardens, hen houses and berry patches.
Without further delay then here’s The Local Plate: Part One:
I am of the mind that every good meal should (but not MUST) start with a good salad and this is certainly the time of year for lettuce:
We owe the bounty of this salad to Sang Lee Farms, North Road, Peconic: iceberg (yes folks...iceberg!) and red leaf lettuces, LI Hydroponic Greenhouses heirloom cherry tomatoes and French radish.
The salad was dressed with an heirloom tomato, honey, scallion vinaigrette. A great way to use up some leftover heirloom tomato salad from lunch, the dressing provided a subtle backing chorus that let the freshness of the salad sing loud and proud.
A recently added stop on our weekend tour, Sang Lee has an amazing variety of organic and hothouse vegetables including a wide, remarkable selection of Asian greens. More on the Asian greens in another Plate.
On the flip side, some might find their prices a bit high, especially for VEGETABLES and I agree to some extent, but as I see it and have proven to my own and Agnes’ chagrin, you can very easily spend $60 on a crappy, high calorie, deep fried lunch/dinner at a fake neighborhood pub grub joint, so is $30 or $40 for delectable, outrageously fresh, can’t buy them in any grocery store vegetables really all that high? I think not.
Besides, if you want value to offset the cost of your vegetables, buy a couple of their amazing roast pork buns. For $1.75 and 20 seconds in the microwave, you get a perfect sweet bun filled with just enough delicious, saucy roast pork.
Nirvana for less than $2.00, that is real value folks!
I eagerly await following the seasons of 2010 just to see what else they will bring to our table.