Out of Hibernation

I'm watching the last inning of the Phillies game as I write this. They are a super, super team, of that there is no doubt. However, I would have liked to see them at least win two of three against the surging Atlanta Braves. Another division rival tomorrow in Florida against the Marlins. Ah, baseball chatter. Must be Spring...and Spring has certainly sprung for the The Philly Food Feed as we are back in blogging action for the 2011 farmers' market season. With the weather finally changing to bearable, the Food Feed family has been enjoying the kick-off of this year's farmers' market season at two of Philadelphia's premier markets - Clark Park Farmers' Market in West Philadelphia and the Headhouse Farmers' Market in Society Hill.

This season at the Food Feed we are offering those in the community the opportunity to contribute to this blog, whether it be an article, tip, recipe, picture, etc. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that take awesome pictures of asparagus and would like a way to showcase them other than Facebook, or maybe you are a budding star of journalism looking to "make your bones". As you probably can tell from the use of food vernacular in the proceeding sentence, we only ask that your submission be food related and pertaining to the local food scene in the Philadelphia area, as well as pieces related to sustainable agriculture on the local and national level. We are gonna give this a shot. We already have added a correspondent this season! And his first "assignment" was the opening of Headhouse on the first Sunday in May. Stu Franks, rock star, movie maker, and now local food fancier was on the scene with his shopping list and video camera. Talk about commitment! I can barely remember the grocery bags and the baby when I go to Headhouse and more often then I want to admit, I end up forgetting the grocery bags. I would imagine that's better than the alternative. My wife would concur. Check out this interview Stu did with Ben Wenk of Three Springs Fruit Farm at last week's season opener at the Headhouse:

 

Moving on to West Philadelphia - Saturday marked the "unofficial" kick-off to the season at the Clark Park farmers' market although this market is open all year round. With the Spruce Hill May Fair going on right across the street and the return of Gina Humphreys of Urban Girls Produce, Fahnestock Fruit Farm, and the University City High School garden club to the farmers' market, foot traffic was at a level not seen since last summer. I asked Jon Glyn, Clark Park market manager and Food Trust stalwart about the turnout and his enthusiastic response said it all -  "As usual, the Spruce Hill May Fair was a wonderful, family-oriented event, full of great food and interesting music, local businesses and lots of sunshine and good cheer.  The turnout was amazing.  Everybody was in that spring mood.  Everybody was green and flowering inside."

I'm flowering inside just reading that. Lots of guys here flowering inside. I must be growing an entire garden in my stomach because after cooking what we bought from the purveyors at the park for Mother's Day, I look like I'm eating for two. Asparagus and Lettuce from Brogue Hydroponics, Onions and Potatoes and Eggs from Margerum's Herbs, Grass fed ground beef from Landisdale Farm...Mother's Day brunch and dinner at our house had a distinctive Clark Park flavor this year. For brunch, I made my lovely wife Sarah an egg bake with said Asparagus, Eggs, and Mushrooms which went over great. I will gladly include the recipe at the end of this post - I found it on the internet and made some adjustments per our personal tastes. It made enough that after brunch I was eating it cold for the rest of the day.  

We fired up the grill for Mother's Day Dinner and the aforementioned ground beef from Landisdale Farm did not disappoint. I made 12 burgers and I don't think there were any leftovers. We have a new grill with three burners which is awesome because I like my burgers mooing and my wife likes them char-broiled. Hers weren't as done as she would have liked but mine were spot-on. I guess I can't bring myself to scorch such delicious meat. There I go flowering again...

As promised, here is the recipe for the egg bake. Special thanks to the Perfect Pantry. Enjoy!

Asparagus Egg Bake

10 large eggs
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
10 asparagus spears, bottoms trimmed, sliced 1/8-inch thin
2 cups grated or shredded cheese
2 Tbsp light cream
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaf
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp Hungarian Paprika
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper

Cooking spray (canola or olive oil)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare a casserole dish by spraying with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs.

In a small frying pan, heat the oil, and add the onions and asparagus. Sauté until onions are translucent, 2-3 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and set aside to cool for 2 minutes. Then, mix the onions and asparagus into the eggs along with all of the remaining ingredients. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish.

Bake at 375F for 35 minutes, until the casserole is lightly browned and a bit puffy. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before eating.

(Can be made up to one day ahead. Cool, cover and refrigerate. To reheat, uncover and place in a 350F oven for 15-20 minutes.)