Author: Kacie Cotter-Harrigan

Hello my Foodie Friends!

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start to summer. Memorial Day started as an event to honor Union soldiers who had died during the American Civil War. It was inspired by the way people in the Southern states honored their dead. We would like to thank all who have either served or are currently serving our country for your service. My father served in WWII fighting on the beaches of Normandy under General George Patton; my father-in-law served 22 years in the army, training and commanding young recruits in Korea and beyond. Our parents come from a period that is called “the greatest generation.”  The stories that both my father and father-in-law have given over the years about their time in the war or in the service, and the stories both my mother and mother-in-law have told, reflect an incredible period of our history. 

Now we have a new group of Heros fighting on the front lines for us. They are our Health Care Professionals, Nurses, Doctors, EMT’s, Firefighters and Police. Everyday they use their experience and risk their lives for us. 

It’s sad that we may not be able to celebrate with as many of our friends as we would like but when you set this paper down look around the room at the most important people you’ll be celebrating with, your family!  If the weather co-operates many of us will be grilling outside and we have a couple of tools that can be used on your grill.

The First and most important tool is a Thin Tip Thermometer. 

Range is from -40F to 450F.  It is for thin and thick cuts of meat with a 6 second response.  Why is it important?  How about E-Coli 0157:H7 or Salmonellosis? Rule of thumb is cook ground beef to a temperature of 155 degrees F for at least 15 seconds and poultry to 165 degrees F for at least 15 seconds.  There are other temperatures for other foods so please check.

The second tool is the 20”x10.5” Cast Iron Reversible Griddle/Grill by Lodge.

Lodge Cast Iron has been making heirloom-quality cookware and accessories since 1896. They currently operate two foundries in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, their home since the very beginning. Backed by over 120 years of experience, each piece of Lodge cookware is crafted for durability and versatility. They don’t just make cookware — they make memories that last for generations. This 20 Inch double-burner Reversible Grill/Griddle functions as a dual cooking surface with both a smooth griddle and a ribbed grill. Fits over two stovetop burners. When used on the stove, set both burners to the same temperature for even cooking and excellent heat retention. Seasoned and ready to use.

• Seasoned with 100% natural vegetable oil
• Unparalleled heat retention and even heating
• Use in the oven, on the stove, on the Grill, or over a Campfire
• Get a restaurant-quality sear
• Use to sear, sauté, bake, broil, or grill
• Made in the USA

I personally love this tool because it’s easy to clean and with the two sides, I can cook almost any food and have even heat distribution. You can make pancakes in the morning, flip it over and cook burgers and dogs in the afternoon.  I can just hear Tim Allen say “UUUEEGGHH!?!” 

Contact John either through e-mail: john@saratogachef.com or call us at 518-226-4477. We can work with you on how to get those cool tools to assist with your culinary needs. We can take orders via phone or e-mail at Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store! Just before you’re ready to eat, stop and raise a glass to reflect and cheer all those who have given so much for us. Have a nice weekend and remember my foodie friends the “Life Happens in the Kitchen!”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

While the mainstream media reports on crops rotting in fields due to the food chain disruption caused by COVID-19, the local agriculture scene is experiencing a different reality. Local farmers are responding to the demand for fresh food and CSA’s, once considered to be a niche market, are gaining momentum. 

Community-supported agriculture (CSA) by Echo Creek Farm’s definition is “a mutually beneficial commitment between farmers and their community.” Members of a CSA ensure a customer base and stable income for farmers throughout the growing season. In return, the farmer provides CSA members with a weekly share of seasonal produce.

Local farms are experiencing a surge in CSA signups as consumers are looking for food that has been handled minimally on the journey from farm to table. Consumers are also looking to avoid the stresses of shopping and CSA shares offer a solution: a variety of ripe, freshly-harvested products on a consistent schedule.

Echo Creek Farm, Owl Wood Farm, and 518 Farms currently offer CSA shares. These shares vary in pricing, products, and frequency, and each farm offers pick-up and delivery options to meet customers’ specific needs.

Echo Creek Farm offers a ‘harvest share’ that runs for 15 weeks from June through September. “Our share relies heavily on familiar items. Each week you’ll receive a collection of vegetables that are in season and grown using organic methods. The amount varies a little as the growing season changes, but it’s generally appropriate for a family of 2-4 people,” says Mike Palulis, farm owner. Pickup is at their farm in Salem.

Owl Wood Farm offers two CSA options: a standard ‘box share’ that runs for 20 weeks from June through October and a ‘market share’ where credit is added onto a gift card in increments of $100 and customers use this credit while shopping at their farmers’ market stand. Owl Wood offers ‘box share’ pickup at the farmers’ market, drive-thru pickup at their farm in Salem, and home delivery.

518 Farms offers a variety of mushrooms in their weekly ‘small ½ lb. share’ or ‘large 1 lb. share’. Subscribers may select from blue and yellow oysters, lions main, nameko, chestnuts, maitake, and shiitake with pickup on Tuesdays at the farm in Hoosick Falls.

In addition to these CSA farm shares, Elihu Farm offers an egg subscription, Slate River Farms offers ‘box selections’ on their pastured pork and grass-fed beef, and Goode Farm offers a weekly flower subscription.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Wilton Mall. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

May means garden season, and this year, amid predictions of food shortages, growing your own food might be a vital source of sustenance.

“I always feel a few pots of easy vegetables or a small garden should be a part of life for any family,” says Sandy Arnold of Pleasant Valley Farm. “It’s so easy.”

Yet, many claim they can’t grow food, citing past failures as evidence.

We at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market want you to try again.

Burger Farm and Balet Flower & Design are selling vegetable, fruit, and herb seedlings to help you start. Others such as Gomez Veggie Ville make it even easier with pre-planted culinary herb mixes in a pot. 

Here are Some Suggestions:

• If you love peas, snag a bag of seeds and plant them now, up against a wire fence or trellis. They’ll start producing pods around July and will flourish for about three weeks. Plant more peas in three-week intervals through mid-July to ensure an ongoing supply. 

• Hardy root vegetables such as radishes, carrots, turnips, and beets also are easy to start by seed, though sometimes seedlings are available. Radishes and turnips grow fast and will be harvestable in four to six weeks. Beets and carrots take longer. Plant these vegetables several times, as well.

• Plant lettuce seedlings from Burger or Balet and start harvesting the outer leaves in about two weeks. Keep harvesting like this or wait for the plants to grow larger and then cut all the leaves at the base. They’ll grow back, but you also can keep planting lettuce from seed to ensure a steady crop. 

• Burger and Balet also have kale, Swiss chard, pac choi, and other leafy greens seedlings. Plant and harvest the leaves when they are eight inches long. These “cut and come again” plants produce through late fall.

• You also can get broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts seedlings now. Consider a second planting of broccoli and cabbage in late June.

• After June 1, start planting summer seedlings. These include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squashes, melons, and basil. They’ll begin producing fruit in several weeks and will continue until the fall frosts arrive.

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

Hello my Foodie Friends!

While we have all been spending more time under one roof together as families and friends, the quickest way to someone’s heart has been honing our culinary skills and creating new and different food creations. There is nothing more impressive than whipping up a meal for your household. It is food that creates a home, connections, celebrations, and embraces family and friends. In creating meals, we are creating homes and a nurturing environment. The meals do not have to be fancy or gourmet. It isn’t about how special the recipe is. It is about being conscious of an important part of life and honoring that importance. By elevating the importance of food in our family’s lives, you pass that importance on to them. Families connect around the dinner table, all sharing the meal they know is just for them. They also learn the subtle ways you can say “I love you” through the daily care of mealtime.

Catching up on some of our favorite shows has been another fun item to do during our COVID-19 lockdown. Disney has offered the opportunity to watch some of the classics such as “Lady and the Tramp.” Watching this movie gave me the craving to make Spaghetti and Meatballs as one of our dinners. As one of the greatest love stories ever told, “Lady and the Tramp” is sure to melt the hearts of generations with its beloved characters, brilliant animation, memorable music and sweet sentiment. The animated treasure tells the story of Lady, a lovingly pampered cocker spaniel, and Tramp, a freewheeling mutt with a heart of gold. The best part is the creative, tender, iconic and downright romantic moment when the cocker spaniel and the schnauzer-mix in Lady and the Tramp serendipitously pull each other into a kiss when they slurp up the same noodle from a plate of spaghetti. It’s their first official date, it’s under a starry sky, there’s music, and they’re both completely oblivious about what’s about to happen until the very last moment when their lips touch! 

At Compliments to the Chef, your neighborhood kitchen and cutlery store, we have several items by All-Clad that can assist with making your Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti and Meatballs dinner; the 8 Quart or the 12 Quart Multi Cooker that includes a steamer basket and a perforated pasta draining insert. The large pot works well for canning, blanching, or making large batches of soups, sauces, and stews. With the perforated insert in place, the multi cooker conveniently prepares homemade stocks, vegetables, or pasta—simply lift the insert to instantly drain. Prominent side handles ensure a secure hold when transporting the pot from the sink to the stovetop or when lifting the insert. The included steel steamer basket fits inside the insert for cooking delicate foods like vegetables or seafood.

Our prescription for a perfect evening? Whip up a pot of spaghetti and meat balls, light a few candles, stream in “Lady and Tramp,” and snuggle up with someone you love – or the whole family – and enjoy a little “Bella Notte” of your own. Finish with something sweet and a goodnight kiss. Show your love through the foods you cook. Stop by Compliments to the Chef located at 33 Railroad Place, call us or leave us an e-mail and we will work with you on how to get the culinary products you need to you. We are available to help Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Remember my Foodie Friends; “Life Happens in the Kitchen.”

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Hello my Foodie Friends!

This weekend is Mother’s Day. Amid this time of lockdown, we have been given more time to connect as a family and spend more time together under one roof. Although it has been a challenging time – there are so many wonderful things I am seeing as I look at my own family and observe the families around me in my neighborhood. Families are spending much more time together doing things like playing indoor and outdoor games, learning new crafts, and honing culinary skills. Our families are feeling closer and more fulfilled. So how do we celebrate Mom this weekend? It is a time that I find difficult in that I lost my mother many years ago. Paula’s Mom is still with us. She has been a special Mother-in-Law to me who I love very much. Remembering my mother at this time brings those memories that make me laugh and cry.

I have talked about growing up in an Italian family in many of my articles. Recently, I was reminded by one of my customers that Italians are a matriarchal nationality. It’s the women who carry on the traditions and hand out the majority of discipline, wisdom and nurturing to the children. As I was growing up being one of five siblings, every room in the house involved teaching and training by my mother. The bedroom was making your bed, dusting furniture. sweeping the floor or vacuuming the rugs and organizing your clothes. The bathroom was to be kept clean at all times and the living room was “keep your feet off the couch.” The kitchen had the most intense training. Washing and drying dishes to cleaning and setting the table. At the kitchen table we learned so much by sitting at a table (not a center island the way we do today) and shared everything from how our day went to how to pass the potatoes. We learned manners; how to hold a fork and at the beginning of the meal watching how much Mom did to prepare the meals and us for dinner. Her words before every meal were to wash up before you sit at the table. Every meal stated the essentials for us not to forget to do: “Remember, hands, face, neck and ears.” During these past weeks. many of us have been reminded of these traditions, discipline, wisdom, and nurturing of children while being under one roof together.

Compliments to the Chef would like to salute all the Moms who have made life happen in our homes and especially in the kitchen. Who is the first one to start cooking a meal and the last to sit down for a meal? Who is still in the kitchen cleaning well after everyone else has left? What room in the house does Mom dole out free advice on dating, school, employment and dealing with disappointment? Where do some your funniest memories of Mom take place? Moms hold court in their kitchen as a judge does in his court room or Queen Elizabeth in Buckingham Palace. My Mom didn’t hold a staff like the Queen but she did carry a rolling pin and a wooden spoon. For a few years it was never very far from her right hand. 

This Mother’s Day when it is time for dinner, seat mom first and clean up so she can enjoy her day. Call Mom on a regular basis and tell her how you feel about her. You cannot say “I love you Mom” enough. Mealtime is family time. Look at each other, listen to each other, tell stories, and talk about life. What ever the gift is that you give your Mom on Mother’s Day the greatest gift is the smile and love you give her. Hold onto these traditions and family time you have created over these weeks. Enjoy your time at home and make beautiful memories. 

At Compliments to the Chef, we are available to help you with finding that special gift to give to Mom. A gift certificate is a perfect gift to give for Mother’s Day. We also have a lot of great cool tools for your “Foodie” to use while we are all together under one roof. Contact John either through e-mail: john@saratogachef.com or call us at 518-226-4477. We can work with you on how to get that special someone what they need. We can take orders via phone or e-mail at Compliments to the Chef, your Neighborhood Kitchen and Cutlery store! Remember my Foodie Friends and Mom’s: “Life Happens in the Kitchen” – those memories will last you a lifetime.

 Take Care,
John & Paula

Makers of locally crafted whiskey, gin, and vodka have been a part of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market for several years. 

Local distilleries such as Springbrook Hollow Farm and Yankee Distillers have shared with their customers spirits made from New York grown grains that have been slowly cooked down, fermented, distilled, and aged. The process was all about care. 

Care took on a different meaning when the COVID-19 pandemic erupted two months ago. Hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies essential to protecting one’s self suddenly became hard to find. Many worried about coming into contact with the virus and not being able to get clean. The distilleries had a solution. Now, bottles of hand sanitizer share space on their farmers’ market tables with the spirits for which they are known.

“We realized that as cleaning supplies started to come into short supply some of the raw alcohol we had on-site could be used to clean things around the distillery,” says Steve Hamilton of Yankee Distillers. “And then when the New York Liquor Authority and the World Health Organization started to publish guidelines for distilleries to transition their production over to hand sanitizer, we realized that we were positioned to provide a product that our community needs right now.”

“We had all the equipment, everything we needed,” adds Tara Amazon of Springbrook Hollow. “We knew we needed to help keep our community safe in whatever way that we could.”

Yankee Distillers makes its sanitizer with alcohol, a bittering agent that denatures it, glycerin to soften it, peroxide, and water. They follow a World Health Organization formula. It is being sold in half-gallon containers for $32 and 4-ounce spray-top bottles for $5. The company also is offering face masks imprinted with its logo.

Springbrook’s product is made from grain alcohol, glycerin, and peroxide. It is being sold for $45 a gallon, or $35 a gallon for four or more gallons. Two-ounce spray-top bottles cost $3.

Springbrook just donated 5,000 bottles to health care workers in Saratoga, Glens Falls, and Queensbury north to the Canadian border.

Market staff and some vendors also are keeping bottles of their sanitizer on their tables and at cleaning points throughout the market as part of their effort to keep the environment safe.

The Saratoga Farmers Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays outside at the Wilton Mall. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.