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Recipes | Farmers Market Recipe Cards

Recipes | Eggplant Parmesan

I prepared this Eggplant Parmesan at my Farmers Market Workshop and Cooking Class at A Thyme for Everything.  To see all of the photos and recipes, click here!  Photos are courtesy of Andrew Doak.

Eggplant Parmesan

3 eggplants, sliced

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 extra-large eggs

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/4 cups dry bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving

Unsalted butter

Good olive oil

Coat the eggplant in flour, then dip into an egg, then into bread crumbs, parmesan, salt and pepper.  Heat butter and olive oil in a large saute pan and cook eggplant for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until cooked through. 

Download the recipe card here.

Recipes | Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce | Farmers Market

I prepared this Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce at my Farmers Market Workshop and Cooking Class at A Thyme for Everything.  To see all of the photos and recipes, click here!  Photos are courtesy of Andrew Doak.

Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce

olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

4 large tomatoes

1 cup of cherry tomatoes

10 fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of salt

Put half of the large tomatoes and all of the basil in a food processor.  Pulse just until thickly chopped.  Seperately dice remaining half of tomatoes and slice cherry tomatoes in half.   In a sauce pan, saute garlic in olive oil, then add diced tomatoes and the tomato and basil mixture.  Add sugar and salt.  Cook for at least 10 minutes.

Here I've topped my Eggplant Parmesan recipe with the fresh tomato and basil sauce.

Recipes | Garden Dressing

I prepared this creamy and tangy salad dressing at my Farmers Market Workshop and Cooking Class at A Thyme for Everything.  To see all of the photos and recipes, click here!  Photos are courtesy of Andrew Doak.

Garden Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup green onions

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 teaspoons garlic

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup sour cream

3 heads Bibb lettuce

Place the mayonnaise, scallions, basil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper in a 

blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the sour cream and process just until blended.

I serve the salad dressing on buttery bibb lettuce with fresh tomatoes.

Workshops | Farmers Market Class

Last night's cooking class at A Thyme For Everything was extraordinary - the produce provided by Fahrmeier Farms was unbelievable, the class attendees were enthusiastic and curious, and the recipes were simple and delicious.  

As an avid fan of great photography, I was so thrilled to have photographer Andrew Doak and his wife, Kara, as attendees of the class.   Andrew had his camera and shot the class step-by-step.  He was so generous to share the photos with us.  Thanks, Andrew.  You can find out more about Andrew and his work on his website, andrewdoak.com.

At each place setting, I placed a 'pocket folded' napkin with the Farmers Market Recipe Cards that I created, then accented it with a sprig of fresh basil.  To download the recipe cards, click here.  For more photos of all three of the different table settings, click here!

Fahrmeier Farms (my cousins' produce farm located in Lexington, Mo.) provided a farmers market stand right in the store.  I cooked straight from the bushel baskets and the class attendees were able to shop from it as well.

My Homemade Pickles.  For the recipe, click here!

Beautiful Tomato.  See how much flesh?!

Look at the beautiful heirloom tomatoes!

Here I am preparing the Panzanella, heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, bell peppers, fresh basil, homemade croutons and champagne dijon vinaigrette.  For the complete recipe, click here.

Panzanella.  So fresh!

Now, I'm making the Garden Dressing for the bibb lettuce salad.  Fresh basil, green onions, garlic, sour cream, mayonnaise, fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt & pepper. 

I served the creamy Garden Dressing atop buttery Boston Bibb Lettuce with heirloom tomatoes (of course!).

I'm putting the food processor to work again as I make the fresh Tomato Basil Sauce.  I pulsed together heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil, then cooked it in olive oil and garlic.  I added a little sea salt and sugar.  It cooked for 10-15 minutes.  So simple, and so delicious.  Complete recipe for Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce is here. 

Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce

I breaded and fried sliced eggplant.   The breading is a mixture of parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.  The complete recipe for Eggplant Parmesan is here.  I topped each piece of eggplant with a slice of fresh mozzarella, then topped it with the Fresh Tomato Basil Sauce. 

Eggplant Parmesan.  Yum.

Dessert was fresh peaches, blueberries and blackberries served over a simple vanilla cream sauce.  

The vanilla sauce was made by boiling cream for 10 minutes, then adding some sugar and the seeds from a vanilla bean.

Thanks again to Andrew Doak for sharing his photos with us!  Visit his site and twitter feed,  andrewdoak.com.

Entertaining | Farmers Market Dinner Party

For my Farmer's Market class (tomorrow at a Thyme For Everything) I designed a table setting that showcased the class's star - fresh, juicy, heirloom tomatoes.  Not only is it pretty to look at, it is inexpensive, too.  

Cherry Tomatoes in Antique Tins  |  Heirloom Tomatoes stacked on a white cake plate from Nell Hill's  |  White Table Runner 

Brown Ticking Stripe Napkins : Pottery Barn  |  Menu Card : designed by me, Jenny Steffens, with basil accent

The recipes and photos of the menu items are coming soon!

Everyday : Recipes : Simple Homemade Pickles

For my Farmers Market workshop next Tuesday (more info here!), I've promised to demonstrate how to make homemade pickles... so, I made the first batch this morning so we're able to taste them during the workshop.

I've been recently intrigued by pickles because of my love of Blanc Burger's fabulous pickles...  they are sweet, but not to sweet, and tangy.  My goal with this recipe is to create a similar pickle.

Jenny's Homemade Pickles

10 small cucumbers, cut into quarters

3 cups of vinegar 

1 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of sea salt

1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons of dry mustard

1/3 cup of peppercorns

4 cloves of garlic, sliced in half

1 bunch of dill, divided into 4

Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper flakes and mustard into a saucepan and bring to a slight boil to dissolve the sugar and salt.  Remove from heat.  

In 4 jars, place 2 garlic halves, a couple sprigs of dill, 1 tablespoon of peppercorns and one quarter of the cucumbers.  Pour vinegar mixture into each jar to the brim.  Fasten the lids on the jar and refrigerate for 2 days before eating.  The pickles will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks!

Everyday : Recipes : Baked Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes, Chicken & Basil

This pasta is loosely based on the classic combination of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil.  I added roasted chicken, pancetta and baby portabella mushrooms to give it some hearty flavors making it entree worthy.  Baking the pasta with the sauce and cheese makes it gooey and delicious - like mac and cheese 'with the volume turned up' - as the Barefoot Contessa would say.  I love fixing pasta for dinner (as you may have noticed), so the way I keep it healthy is to make sure I have 2/3 vegetables and proteins, and only 1/3 pasta.  This recipe feeds 4-6!

Roasted Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil Pasta... with some other things, too.

1 pound of tube pasta (rigatoni, penne, etc.), cooked

1 pound of chicken

2 cups of tomatoes (plum, grape or cherry), cut in half
2 cups of mushrooms (baby portabellas work great), sliced

1/3 pound of pancetta (or bacon), diced

8 ounces of fresh mozzarella, cubed

1/4 cup of fresh basil, julienned 

3 tablespoons of butter

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tablespoons of flour

1 cup of milk

salt & pepper

On a sheet pan, place chicken, tomatoes and mushrooms (be sure to keep the chicken separate from the vegetables), and drizzle with olive oil then salt & pepper.  Roast at 425 for 20 minutes, or until chicken is done.  When chicken has slightly cooled (about 5 minutes) cut into chunks.

In a sauce pan, cook bacon on medium high until slightly crispy.  Remove and drain on a paper towel.  Wipe out pan to remove fat, then add butter and melt over medium low heat, add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Stir in flour and stir for 1 minute until smooth and slightly browned in color - slightly, don't burn!  Whisk in milk and stir for 2-3 minutes, lower heat.  Congrats - you just made a white sauce.  

In a large bowl, place cooked pasta (should still be hot from the boiling), chicken, tomatoes, mushrooms, mozzarella and basil.  Pour white sauce over the mixture and stir.  Place in a casserole dish, or individual crocks.  Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.  

Entertaining : Cookie Cake

How great is this pan from Williams-Sonoma?  It would be so delicious filled with ice cream.  Perfect for a child's birthday party.   And, this is one of those things that would be impossible to mess up.  No decorating, no frosting... so simple.  Find it here!  

A new addition to the kitchen

This blog chronicles my entire kitchen renovation from start to finish. Greentea Design has provided me with their solid wood kitchen cabinets, and I'm taking care of the rest.

If you'd like to be brought up to date, check out the archive in the sidebar for previous posts. I recently bought a new dining table and took some new photos of the kitchen to show it in the space.

During the kitchen renovation, I wanted a dining table built because I needed something narrower than an average size table, and it needed to fit 6 people. My boyfriend and I were initially going to build it, but my contractor offered so we took him up on it. The table turned out to be pretty disastrous. The wood of the top ended up warping and splitting, and the pedestal base was completely non-functional for such a long table. In the end, I ended up picking up a couple cheap table legs at Ikea and adding those on, particularly for instances when some of my porkier cats would launch onto it from the countertop. Here is a photo of the table:


I've been looking for a table on and off for several months now and have had no luck, up until a couple Fridays ago when I took my boyfriend down to the Byward Market with me on a table hunt. We were in Stacaro, my new favourite store, when Jeff spotted a really cool desk. It was on sale at 40% off (floor model), and had a black steel base and a wood top, the same colour as my cabinets but a few shades darker. It came with a shelf attached to house a desktop computer, and we quickly discovered it could easily unscrew off. It was the perfect width (just shy of 3') and length. Here is a photo of it from their website:


SOLD! It arrived last Monday and I finally got a chance to try it out with the shelf (decided it was too distracting and hid my Pantons) and find some things for a centrepiece. I love it. I am so happy to have something straight to eat off of, and I am no longer embarassed to have people over for a meal.