July 2009: Corn and potatoes

Here are a bunch of potatoes, onions, and corn -- 100% from the backyard -- that I cooked in the trusty cast-iron pan one Saturday morning and served up w/ some of the best eggs . . . from the farmer's market. (I'm not hardcore enough to have my own chickens).

I try to be selective and non-ideological about my recommendations here . . . not everything I post is necessarily better (in flavor) than something you could get at the store. A few posts ago, I unequivocally endorsed the flavor of homegrown potatoes. Another one I would stand by wholeheartedly is fresh eggs. Consistently -- and by that I mean virtually every local "grown" egg I've bought from various sources across three different states -- these eggs have been leagues better than grocery store eggs. When you crack them open, you realize what color egg yolks are really supposed to be. I'm told they're more nutritious, but there are also (somewhat subtle) differences in flavor. I think the fresh ones have a depth and range of flavor that I can't find in bland store-bought options.


I'm sad to note two things in the picture above: the boring sliced bread. . . we had already run out of the fresh stuff that week; and the mundane stick of butter. But along the non-ideological lines of what I was saying above -- I've yet to find fresh butter from farmers around here that I like for spreading as much as the stuff you get in the store. The local option is really, really rich, and it's unlike anything I've ever had when added to recipes like soups and sauces (it adds a parmesan flavor), but when you spread it, it's just a little too sour, bitter, and "natural" tasting. I like the really clean flavor of what's in the store. I feel like I've read somewhere that it has more to do with how the butter is processed than it has to do w/ the source, so in theory local butter could be made to taste more like the style I like . . . but I haven't found any that does yet. (I couldn't resist a Google search before posting this, and it sounds like the differences to which I'm referring are between "cultured" butter and "sweet cream" butter -- look it up if you want more details.)

Unfortunately, these details don't matter as much now b/c the producer from which I was buying it no longer sells at any of the distribution points I knew. That said, I am happy to report that there's a great, relatively new goat "cheesemonger" at the farmer's market, and that's what I had to top my onions and potatoes above.

The obligatory, post-meal, clean-plate photo.