Finger Lakes Feasting - The Finger Lakes Food Blog

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB TAPIOCA PUDDING

This is a quick and easy way to enjoy strawberries and rhubarb without having the fuss of making a pie.

1 quart strawberries cut in half or quarters

1 lb. Rhubarb cut into 1/2 inch slices

1/4 cup small pearl tapioca

1 cup apple juice or other juice

3/4 -1 cup sugar depending on how sweet you like it

1. Mix the tapioca and 1/2 cup juice in fridge and leave overnight

2. Add 1/2 cup juice, put the tapioca and juice in saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally so the tapioca doesn’t stick to bottom of pan. Add more juice or water if the mixture gets too thick.

3. After 15 minutes of gentle boiling add the rhubarb and sugar. Cook together uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb has broken down and is no longer distinct pieces: about 15 minutes.

4. Add strawberries, stir them in and bring to boil. Then turn off the heat. This keeps the strawberries bright red and in distinct pieces. Serve warm or cool to a thicker consistency. This is wonderful served with vanilla ice-cream.

By Celia Clement Posted in Dessert, RECIPES | 27 Views | No Comments

U-PICK STRAWBERRIES READY

It’s time for strawberry picking. Listed below are area strawberry growers. Call to get the start date for picking. Many open for business this coming weekend JUNE 21st.

FOR ADDRESSES AND PHONE NUMBERS OF AREA STRAWBERRY FARMS CLICK BELOW:

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By Celia Clement Posted in Uncategorized | 116 Views | No Comments

ITHACA FARMERS MARKET

Waid’s Honey and Candles

The Ithaca Farmers Market is in full swing! It’s a true feast for all the senses: beautiful kaleidoscopes of tulips and lilacs, wonderful sounds of laughter and music and exotic smells from all the world’s best street food. The competing aromas beckon you to their stalls, and you are left with grueling choices to make. The first vegetable crops are sold in wonderful displays: baby lettuce, spinach and other greens. Wineries and cheese makers, jam and honey vendors proudly display their wares and offer samples. And foods from Cuba, Tibet, Nepal, Greece, South America, Japan, India and China, Thailand and Laos are a representation of the feasting on hand for hungry customers. Everyone has their favorites and many vendors attract long lines of repeat customers. Over the years I have many favorites and I’ll touch on just a few here. Some of the newer offerings such as French crepes and Greek Gyros looked and smelled wonderful and are quickly attracting loyal followers. If I need to sustain my weekly craving for healthy gourmet food I’ll wait in line at Macro Mamas. There you don’t need to make a choice. They’ll sell you a platter with all their salads and hot items loaded together. Many people (and I am one of them) bring containers to bring home Macro Mamas for the rest of the week. It’s worth the visit just to feast your eyes on the huge bowls of salad and the mile high cakes and luscious desserts. My recommendation is to bring some friends and buy an assortment of goodies to be eaten in communal picnic style. That way you can sample a variety of cuisines.

Here are some of the highlights to try:

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By Celia Clement Posted in Uncategorized | 163 Views | 1 Comment

Asparagus and Chives

HERALDING THE BEGINNING OF SPRING CROPS!!!!!

Our first crops are ready to harvest! Last night I made my first asparagus and chive meal of the season. They compliment each other beautifully and so we had to choose between chive and asparagus omelet or pasta with chives and asparagus. Both are simple to prepare and because I also had some mushrooms on hand I chose the pasta dish and threw in some mushrooms. I checked what pasta we had on hand. Fresh pasta is the best, but since we didn’t have any in the fridge, I used the campanelle instead. I quickly cooked the freshly picked and cut up asparagus in some olive oil and butter: frying them, and then adding some water to steam them for a few minutes. I put the cooked asparagus aside to cook up the mushrooms. (I’m hoping to make the same dish next week with morels but haven’t found any yet). While the pasta cooked, I added the mushrooms and asparagus together in the frying pan with some cream and salt and pepper, cooked it up quickly and then added the cooked pasta. Add the chopped chives, toss it all with loads of parmesan, asiago or romano cheese and you’ve got the first meal cooked with fresh spring crops. I can’t wait for the beginning of June when Full Plate Farm Collective will start offering their CSA shares!!!

By Celia Clement Posted in Main Dish, RECIPES, Vegetarian | 87 Views | No Comments

KEUKA WINE TRAIL EVENT

Alsatian Tart, Ravine’s Wine Cellars

(From Keuka Lake Food and Wine Tour Event: REVIEWED BELOW)

Alsatian Tart, Ravine’s Wine Cellars

The pastry is a lazy girl’s version of Julia Child’s butter pastry recipe
Crust:

1 and ¾ sticks unsalted butter, diced and frozen
2 cups flour
1 t salt
½ cup ice water (more if needed)

Mix flour & salt in a food processor, add frozen butter and pulse 3 times. Add ice water and turn on processor for approx. 7 seconds or when dough comes together as a clump on the blade. Remove and separate into 2 flat balls, working quickly so butter stays cold. Refrigerate for at least one hour before rolling.

Work quickly when rolling out the pastry so the butter stays cold and then put it back into the fridge until you are ready to fill it.

Filling:

3 cups chopped sweet onion
½ pound bacon, diced* see note
2 eggs
½ cup cream
½ cup Swiss or gruyere cheese* see note
3 sprigs fresh thyme ( leaves only)
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onion until brown and sweet, season with s & p. and sauté bacon until crisp. Let both cool and then sprinkle at the bottom of a tart pan. Add grated cheese & thyme. Lastly, spoon on mixture of egg & cream seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Put into the oven immediately so the pastry stays cold until it hits the hot oven. Bake at 450 degrees for appx. 20 mins. It pairs nicely with Ravines Dry Riesling. Lisa Hallgren, Ravines Wine CellarsCelia’s notes:

I used 6 slices of apple smoked bacon which I first cooked in strips, drained on a paper towel, and then cut into pieces.
I used a fondue mix of gruyere and ementhaller which was already shredded.
I used a 9 inch removable rim tart pan and added ¼ cup of 1/ & ½ and some extra cheese to adequately fill the tart. You will have extra dough.
To make sure the bottom crust is cooked, place the pan on the bottom rack of the oven.
This tart is good, reheated the next day also.

CHECK OUT THE WORLD TOUR OF FOOD AND WINE EVENT A

ON THE KEUKA WINE TRAIL

Keuka Lake wineries are hosting a special “World Tour of Food and Wine” event for two weekends. Last weekend we enjoyed the first round of this event and it was a great success. If you missed it, you can still enjoy the same tour on the weekend of April 19^th and 20^th. Nine wineries participate in this event and many have exceptional views of Keuka Lake which is probably the most picturesque of the winery lakes.

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By Celia Clement Posted in Event Reviews, Main Dish, RECIPES | 196 Views | No Comments

ABBY’S WILD MUSHROOM LASAGNA RECIPE

Many of us Ithaca old timers remember Abby’s, a restaurant in the Motor Vehicles Plaza that was run by Abby Nash from 1984 to 1990. It was a sad day for Ithaca diners when Abby’s closed its doors because it was a consistently wonderful place to eat and we all had our favorites. My favorite dish was Abby’s mushroom lasagna and I was lucky enough to run into Abby the other day. He was hosting a cooking demonstration of his mushroom lasagna. This is the original recipe for his mushroom lasagna and it really is a delicacy. It takes a lot of time to make and you need a pasta maker. But it really is worth the effort. Abby uses freshly grated parmesan, the highest quality he can find such as Reggiano. If you want to truly appreciate the different grades of parmesan, set up a blind tasting. My hands down favorite is the Reggiano. When selecting the variety of mushrooms,; the more exotic the types of mushroom, the better. You can re-hydrate dry mushrooms such as porcini. I also like to use porcini powder. Morels, shitake, oyster, and chanterelles are a great mixture along with some regular brown mushrooms. If you’ve never made homemade pasta with a pasta maker before, the important thing is not to have the dough be too wet. Have flour on hand and when you put the sheets of dough through the pasta maker dust them first with flour if needed. The dough should be smooth so if it gets rough or has holes or is sticky, it probably needs more flour. Making pasta from scratch does take practice. ABBY’S MUSHROOM LASAGNA yield 6 med. servings Read the rest of this entry »

By Celia Clement Posted in Main Dish, RECIPES, Vegetarian | 182 Views | No Comments

Wine and Food Pairing Dinner at Dano’s Heuriger - 4/20

Dano’s Heuriger on Seneca Spring Wine and Food Pairing Dinner
Celebrating New York Wine Month

Join Dano’s and David Pohl and Jason Wentworth
our guest Someliers from North Side Licquors in Ithaca for a themed dinner
” Austria and the Fingerlakes Meet on the Plate and In the Glass”
Sunday April 20 4:00
75.00 not including tax and gratuity

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By Celia Clement Posted in Culinary Event | 198 Views | 1 Comment

Banana Bourbon Bread Pudding with Fudge Sauce

Banana Bourbon Bread Pudding with fudge sauce: serves 8-10 people

This is a great recipe that uses those really ripe bananas that are beginning to perfume the whole house. Next time you are on the verge of throwing out those brown bananas… don’t! This is a really quick and easy recipe which can be adjusted easily to suit your wishes



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By Celia Clement Posted in Dessert, RECIPES | 263 Views | No Comments

FOOD ART



CARROT RAT

    This is the site where you can send me links or pictures of art      creations. I’m starting with this carrot that grew just as it is in this  picture. I added the ears (parsnips) and the body (quince). I also have a wonderful link to a site called: “What Chefs do when they’re bored.” Click on the link, scroll down and check out all the whimsical chef creations.

By Celia Clement Posted in Uncategorized | 168 Views | No Comments

THAI CUISINE SUNDAY BRUNCH

     Thai Cuisine is located on Meadow Street right across from Wegmans. It has had rave reviews for its authentic Thai food including the claim from “Getaways for Gourmets” that it is the best Thai food in New York State. We’re fortunate to have many good Thai restaurants now, but Thai Cuisine was the first; established 19 years ago by Sanit Chutintaranond and his wife Nirada. Regulars have watched their children Ploy and Ravi grow up and they now help out.

   The one niche that Thai Cuisine still holds firmly is their Sunday Brunch which is Thai Dim Sum called a-han-chow; freshly prepared every Sunday and served from 11:30-2:00. For those not familiar with authentic Dim Sum, the service is as follows. The wait staff carries trays of one or two freshly cooked items around, carefully describe the dish and then allow the customer to choose from the selection. Each serving is attractively presented on a small plate and after your meal the plates are added up to come up with your total bill. The plates cost $2.49 each.

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By Celia Clement Posted in Restaurant reviews | 285 Views | No Comments

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