Big City or Little City, Take Time to Buy Fresh Local Food

A couple of days ago I took a short trip to visit my brother and family in Cincinnati.  The main reason for my visit was to see my brand new niece but we managed to do a little bit of sightseeing as well.  I asked him to take me to the Findlay Market in the Over-the-Rhine district.  This is Ohio’s oldest surviving municipal market house, in operation since 1855.  It is open six days a week and many of the vendors have permanent stalls inside the building, with an amazing variety of meats, cheeses, baked goods, and countless other items.  Outside there are stalls where farmers set up to sell their goods, but because I was there on a Sunday afternoon, I only saw a few.  I would have loved to see and chat with the many farmers that show up on other weekday mornings, especially Saturdays.

It was so interesting to see how a large market in a big city works, but also made me proud that we have such a nice market with a lot of variety to offer the public in a town of our size.  Lori Law’s article in last week’s paper was another great reminder of all the fresh market shopping opportunities right here in Zanesville. 

One advantage of buying fresh food in a community of our size is that you have the opportunity to get to know the people who are producing it.  You can actually develop a relationship with them and know exactly where things come from.  It always amazes me how closely people are watching the vegetables growing in my garden as they pass by along the road.  I often hear comments from my customers such as “I’ve been watching those beans climb higher and higher,” or “I saw a deer munching on something yummy in your garden the other morning.”  It is nice that in Muskingum County we are not so far removed from our food production as most of the customers I saw at the market in Cincinnati. 

At a coffee shop near my brother’s house, the special of the day was Summer Squash Gazpacho, featuring locally grown squash, so I had to try a bowl.  Gazpacho is a tomato based soup that is served cold.  I liked the soup at the coffee shop because they left the summer squash chunky instead of pureeing everything as gazpacho recipes often direct.  Therefore, I left the puree step out of the following recipe, which I found at winespectator.com  This recipe seemed most similar to what I tried at the coffee shop.

SUMMER SQUASH GAZPACHO

• 1 pound summer squash (i.e. yellow crookneck, zucchini, patty pan, etc.)
• 1 medium onion
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup virgin or extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 quart water
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 pounds ripe tomotoes, chopped, or 28 ounces canned tomatoes, chopped, and their juices
• 1 bunch basil
• 1 bunch tarragon
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
• Juice of 1 fresh lemon (or more, to taste)
• Garnishes: lemon wedges, diced cucumber and diced scallions, chopped parsley, croutons

Cut the squash and onion into 1-inch chunks. Combine them in a large saucepan with the garlic, olive oil and the water. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 10 or 12 grinds of pepper. Bring the contents to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan and let the vegetables boil gently for 5 minutes.

Uncover the pan and add the chopped tomato (with skin and seeds) and fresh herbs. Boil the soup for 10 minutes, then add the tomato juice, vinegar and lemon juice. Cook for 5 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and more lemon juice, if desired.  Let soup cool to serve at room temperature with garnishes. Makes about 3 quarts. Serves 10 to 12.

Cole inspecting the lobsters at Findlay Market.

Nate and Cole inside Findlay Market.

We met up with the Peyton clan at the market.

Cole eating a cookie as big as his head!

Marshall in front of a painting at the Findlay Market.  They have these paintings at locations all over Cincinnati--finding them is like a treasure hunt.  This one was called something like "Cattle Grazing."  I wish I could remember the artist.

My sweet new niece Maya Rose.