First local produce of the year!

Spring is here! What a weekend...78 miles yesterday with the XXX team ride in sunny, 45+ temperatures, and today, the first fresh produce of the year, local apples!

As I sit here typing this I am munching on a Northern Spy apple purchased this morning at the Logan Square winter farmer's market, at the Congress Theater in Logan Square. Juicy with a nice crunch and full-mouth feel, dry yet sweet at the same time, I've never heard of Northern Spy apples, which cost me $4 for 5.

Also into my messenger bag went a basked (5) of 2nd choice (damaged? but tasty!) Honeycrisp apples. (I'm a bad blogger sometimes, I neglected to get the information from this particular vendor.)

I took home my usual two pouches of grass-fed ground beef, plus one pouch of stew beef, from Black Earth Farms, via the Meat Goat. I have alluded to this before in past posts, but grass-finished beef contains less fat, healthier fat (with a proper ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids), and comes from far healthier cows. Healthier because a properly functioning rumen (the organ - an "extra stomach - that basically turns the grass ingested into protein), one that isn't packed with starchy silage corn, doesn't promote the growth of digestive-resistant E. coli bacteria. The primary health-safety concern of commercially-produced, corn-finished beef.

Grass-fed beef has a more complex taste with several flavors, a gamy, chewier texture, and fuller mouth feel. It also cooks much faster because it has less fat. Do not drain the ground beef that you cook, and when cook steaks, be sure to let it rest, to allow the juices to redistribute throughout the piece.

Shepard's Pie and beef stir fry are on tap this week.

New this week, I took home three jars of Tomato Mountain goodness: fiery habanero and smoky chipotle salsas, plus a tomato basil pasta sauce which I plan on using for a Black Earth meat sauce and gnocchi dish later in the week.



Finally, also for the first time, I bought some organically, naturally raised and pastured bacon (well, pigs, that the bacon came from) from Jake's Country Meats. I plan on using this with some Swiss Chard and cheese I'll get from the Family Fruit Market in Portage Park later this afternoon.

Food errands are my favorite errands.