Author: Kacie Cotter-Harrigan

Hello my Foodie Friends!

The summer sure went by fast with this being Labor Day weekend.  With the weather still being warm comes the yearning for lighter fares such as salads. Creating imaginative salads was always a favorite thing to do by my children. When they were young (and still occurs) our eldest child, John would be accused (by his sister Aubrey) of not wanting to help in the kitchen with the making of the salads.  One of the best and fun solutions was to get a Salad Spinner. This tool assisted us back then and still does today. How did we know our son liked it? When we would come home and the video game would be on pause and salad ingredients everywhere (we knew he was having fun and using the tool).

Why would you consider using a salad spinner? No one likes a wet salad. But there are two important reasons that go beyond personal preference that make spinning your salad a necessity. The first is that most salad dressings are oil-based. Water repels oil, and so salad greens covered in water will repel dressing. This will result in the dressing pooling at the bottom of your salad bowl instead of coating the greens.

The second reason to remove water from your salad is to retain its freshness. The more moisture that’s in your salad, especially if you’re not dressing the whole thing at once, the more quickly it will go bad. The leaves will turn brown and everything will lose its crisp texture if it sits in excess moisture. If you’re not planning on consuming all of your salad immediately, make sure each of its components is as dry as possible before combining them. 

If those two essential warnings against wet greens have not convinced you that you need a salad spinner in your life, fear not, there are plenty of other reasons to get one. Many people think of salad spinners as one-trick ponies that only serve a single purpose and otherwise occupy more than their fair share of precious space in your home, but they actually have quite a number of alternate uses. Salad spinners are useful for washing and drying a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. They are ideal because you can wash and dry things in a single container, and the spinning action they use is delicate enough that it won’t damage or bruise your produce. The next time you need to wash berries, broccoli, green beans, or mushrooms, try using a salad spinner. You’re sure to delight in how dry its contents become, and how quick and easy it is to use. You can also use the internal compartment of your salad spinner as a colander for fresh-cooked pasta. If you’re making a cold dish like pasta salad, spinning the noodles to remove the excess starchy water will cool them more quickly and also help keep them from sticking together.

The basket is also great for defrosting meat and drying before cooking. Vegetables from which it is good to remove excess moisture before frying like zucchini, eggplant, and shredded potatoes, can also be dried in a salad spinner, rather than squeezed out by hand. It also works well as a small dryer for hand-washed delicates.

Do you wash your greens and berries?  Washing your salad ingredients can reduce the risk of illness.  Listeria and E-Coli are dangerous food-borne illnesses that have been present in unwashed salads.  It is difficult to wash salads. The Salad Spinner is a tool that has become a kitchen must-have. 

One of our favorites and best sellers is the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner. We have them in larger and smaller sizes. Dry salad greens with a simple press of the soft, non-slip knob. The non-slip base keeps the bowl steady on the countertop and the built-in brake button stops the Salad Spinner for unloading. The basket doubles as a colander, and the lid comes apart for easy cleaning. The OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner was selected as one of People Magazine’s 2017 50 Food Faves. Salad Spinners, they bring siblings together! Stop by Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place to check out the OXO Salad Spinner and an assortment of other cool tools for cooks.  Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.” Have a safe and wonderful Labor Day Weekend.

 Take Care,
John & Paula

The Saturday Saratoga Farmers’ Market in the Wilton Mall parking lot is exceptionally busy. In addition to selecting veggies, meat, fruits, and prepared foods, customers can explore vendors offering gifts to purchase. 

It’s easy to start the Saturday market with Something’s Brewing coffee. Beth Trattel roasts her coffee beans and sells many varieties of Battenkill Coffee. 

Other foodie gifts include packaged cheese. In addition to yogurt, Dave and Marge Randles, Argyle Cheese Farmer, prepares cheese varieties. “Amazing Grace” won a silver medal at the NYS Fair. Lee Hennessy, Moxie Ridge Farm, specializes in cheese from his Alpine goats. You can choose fresh cheese such as chevre or feta, or ripened Valencia and Cannonball. R&G Cheesemakers in Troy uses goat’s or cow’s milk from nearby farms. Sean O’Connor continuously creates new flavors to accompany his goat’s milk chevre, Camembert, and cow’s milk cheeses. Nettle Meadow also has a unique variety of hard and soft cheeses and chevre.

Or for a sweet treat, shop Saratoga Chocolate Company founded by Hank and Allison Rose. They use “only the highest quality chocolate and ingredients. Each selection is paired with complementary flavors that highlight the tasting notes of each chocolate.” 

Marcie Place, The Chocolate Spoon, bakes notable cookies, teacakes, and other treats that come in giftable packaging.

If your friends enjoy sipping, try a variety of sparkling cider from Slyboro Cider House. Dan Wilson is in charge of their “small dynamic farm, cider house, and farmstand in the foothills of the Adirondacks. His orchard, Hicks Orchard, continues a tradition of direct connection with the local community that dates back to 1905.”

When visiting friends who have dogs, be sure to bring gifts from Mugzy’s Barkery, named after their Old English Bulldog. The Barkery specializes in natural and organic dog treats that are “handmade, healthy, safe, and delicious.”

As you explore the Market, you’ll notice several talented crafters, including Balet Flowers and Design. Suzanne Balet Haight, a second-generation Market vendor makes functional, creative pottery, such as coffee cups, bowls and plates, and lovely containers that hold the flowers and plants they grow.

After you leave Balet Flowers, go to Feathered Antler where Gretchen Tisch will create a portrait of your pet from a photo. She illustrates clothing with birds, deer, moose, or their feathers and antlers. “They stand out as being the most stunning parts of animals who wear them from the sky to the ground.”

On her Kokinda Farm, Laurie Kokinda produces vegetables, fruits, jellies, and jams. Equally practical are her sewn products, including aprons and one-piece quilted hot pads. In the future, she’ll bring catnip pillows. 

If you’re looking for handmade jewelry, Big Breath Wellness has handmade earrings and pendulums.

Mary Jane Pelzer, Saratoga Suds ‘n’ Stuff, a third-generation soap maker, has been producing a large variety of natural handmade soap in small batches for over 40 years. Look for basic body bars, hand soaps, and soap in special shapes such as lambs, flowers, fish, and eggs.

Saratoga Farmers’ Market runs at Wilton Mall 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our newsletter -www.saratogafarmersmarket.org/weekly-newsletter.

It’s been quite a summer, with COVID-19, nationwide protests and calls for police reforms, presidential politics, school reopenings, and the fate of the U.S. postal service dominating the news.

Still, we’re surviving, thanks to the best local foods and drinks that our vendors bring each week to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. 

In that spirit, we suggest a brief celebration. Visit the market and fill your basket with what you need for your upcoming meals. Top it off with a bottle of a handcrafted artisanal liquor and the ingredients for a cocktail or two.

The market’s three spirits vendors are Lake George Distillery, Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery, and Yankee Distillers. Collectively, they bring gin, vodka, and whiskey to the market each Saturday, not to mention fruit- and spice-infused spirits, such as Lake George’s Apple Pie Moonshine and its Lake George Lemonade. A simple quarter-cup pour from one of their bottles over two or three cubes of ice makes a hearty but not too boozy cocktail in and of itself. 

If you want something a little more fancy, try these suggestions:

• LAVENDER LEMONADE COCKTAIL
Yankee’s Steve Hamilton recommends either vodka or bourbon for this beverage made with Slate Valley Farm’s lavender lemonade and freshly chopped cucumber from one of the market’s produce vendors. Strip off some of the outer cucumber skin with a vegetable peeler and chop the cucumber. Place it in a cup with ice cubes, and add one part spirit and three parts lavender lemonade. The lemonade lightens the intensity of the liquor, while the lavender and cucumber impart a floral freshness. I tried this concoction with bourbon and found it delicious.

• GIN & TONIC WITH CELERY
Springbrook Hollow’s Tara Solomon suggests muddling a bit of chopped celery in the classic gin and tonic beverage consisting approximately of one part gin, two parts tonic, and ice. She also suggests allowing the celery to remain in the glass until the beverage has been consumed for snacking. Cucumber makes an excellent alternative. 

• MOCHA AND MINT WHISKEY
Hamilton suggests a malt whiskey for this cocktail, which is made with coffee and chocolate milk from the market’s new Bunker Hill Dairy vendor. It can be made with a take-home version of the mocha drink that Something’s Brewing offers. A little bit of crushed mint adds a flavorful boost.

Just remember, no drinking at the market.

Saratoga Farmers’ Market runs at Wilton Mall 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our newsletter: www.saratogafarmersmarket.org/weekly-newsletter. 

Hello my Foodie Friends!

This past week and weekend celebrates my mother-in-law and my mother (who has passed) birthdays. As my family celebrate both of their birthdays, I reflect on my treasured childhood experiences especially during the end of summer weather. Along with this time of year came the time to work in the garden and harvest the incredible vegetables that we worked hard to grow and maintain over the summer. I love garden grown tomatoes. It often took all of my control to not bite into them as I was pulling them from their stems. Fresh tomatoes smell so good.  My grandmother and mother always loved to make their sauce from home grown tomatoes. Therefore, in August and September, when tomatoes are at their ripest, it was a very busy time for me to help them in the garden. Every summer, when the garden was coming up tomatoes, my family would pass them through a chinois or food mill to get rid of skins and seeds. We would have fresh tomato sauce year-round. When you use a chinois or a food mill, tomatoes stay dense and rich.

The chinois is a cone-shaped strainer with a tightly woven mesh for filtering impurities from stocks, soups and sauces. To make the best use of a chinois, you’ll need a pointed wooden pestle, tailored to closely fit the bottom of the cone. The pestle allows you to easily press every last bit of juice and flavor from the solids. A stand is useful for holding the chinois upright over a pot or bowl. A chinois can be used for taking lumps out of gravy or even for taking the juice from citrus fruit. However, the most common use for a chinois is for making soup stock or sauces. For example, a chinois can be used to remove the seeds from tomatoes to prepare a fresh tomato sauce. Some people use a chinois to prepare apple sauce. It is also known as a bouillon strainer and it is commonly used for preparing soup stock as the conical shape helps funnel the stock into your pot. The fine mesh also keeps the bigger pieces of meat from the bones from going into the soup stock and clouding the clear broth.

To make a fresh sauce, dice tomatoes, then toss them in a pot and set it over moderate heat, stirring frequently. The tomatoes quickly begin dumping out their water as they heat up. Simmer the tomatoes until most of the excess liquid has cooked off, then transfer them  to a chinois or a food mill. To peel the tomatoes, cut out the stem end and score an X into the skin with a sharp knife. Then drop them in boiling water until the skins just start to show signs of coming loose around the score marks (just about 30 seconds to a minute). Finally, transfer the tomatoes to an ice bath to shock them and stop the cooking; this will help loosen the skins even more. You should be able to just peel them right off with your hands. Dice the remaining tomato flesh, transfer it to a mesh strainer/ chinois or food mill, set over a bowl, and sprinkle it liberally with salt, which will draw out moisture. After about 30 minutes to an hour, puree the pulp with a blender. The puree has a very bright, fresh flavor, like gazpacho—but without any of the other ingredients, obviously. Included is a recipe for a fresh tomato sauce. 

At Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store located at 33 Railroad Place, we carry cool tools for cooks to help with those culinary traditions.  Working in the garden can make for some lifelong memories made with family and friends while sharing your culinary creations.  Remember my Foodie Friends, “Life Happens in the Kitchen.” 

 Take Care,
John & Paula