Tatanka Burgers

I have to say that living in this area I am blessed with the bounty that comes to the farmers markets. I have Williamsburg and Yorktown to visit on Saturdays, and now on Wednesdays there is the midweek Farmers Market in Port Warwick. All of these market offer not only local fresh veggies, but meat and seafood too. At one of the stands there is bison meat, which I had never tried before, so I decided to get some. A stand a little bit down had some great looking onion rolls that looked like they would be great as burger buns, tomatoes from Julia and Bill who have the best tomatoes that I have ever bought, and a meal was in the works. I had some onion and mushrooms on hand so I thought I would find a place for them in the meal and this is what I came up with.

Tatanka Mushroom Onion Burgers

1 pound of ground bison

1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup of chopped onions

salt and pepper

In a large bowl mix onion and mushrooms with bison meat, season with salt and pepper. Shape patties into desired size (I was able to get six good size burgers out of a pound), and refrigerate for 30 minutes. In you are going to pan fry them I suggest you add some olive oil or butter to the pan as the meat is so lean that I think they need the fat to cook without burning. If using a grill heat to medium. Cook burgers for 3 to 5 minutes on each side* , add cheese if desired and top with tomatoes, lettuce, and other condiments of your choice. Serve with oven baked potato wedges and get a meal that the whole family will love.

*Note: Bison meat is best rare...

Dean and Don's

There is a great seasonal produce place that open in April, closes in November and other than the farmer's market is the best place to gt fresh produce around here. John, Emma, and I headed over to see what was in this weekend. Wow did we find some tasty treats. John wanted a watermelon, instead of a whole one we found an already cut up one that was the right size for us, and allowed Emma to try her first bite of watermelon. I found a perfect 1/2 cantaloupe to enjoy the prosciutto sitting in my fridge with. There were pre-season strawberries that if I did not know when the right part of the season was I would not have know they were early based on the flavor of these ones. John found some shortcakes to go with so this morning we enjoyed strawberry shortcake sans the whip cream for breakfast. Plus I have two strawberry recipes that I want to try out so those are on the menu in a day or two. There was local asparagus that had some of the deepest purple tips I had ever seen. Navel oranges, new potatoes in a basket, and an apple for John rounded out our purchases. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the tomatoes that are on the menu tonight, some great beefsteaks that smelled fresh picked. I am in fresh fruit and veggie heaven and the kids are loving it too.

Perfect Seasonal Side

Rena and I were having a conversation about food, as always, and she mentioned a salad that she had read about that featured peas and asparagus, I thought that sounded great, so armed with no recipe off I went to create a great side dish to feature the local asparagus that I got at Dean and Don's the other day. This is quick and simple and even my five year old liked it.

1 bunch of local asparagus
1/3 cup of frozen peas
2 tablespoons of olive oil
the zest from 1 lemon
salt and pepper to season

Wash asparagus and cut each spear into about 3 pieces. Heat a skillet large enough to fit all of your asparagus on medium high and add oil. When oil is heated add asparagus, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Cook stirring regularly until asparagus begins to turn a brighter green, about 3 minutes, at this time add the peas and cook until peas are bright green. Serve on the side of fish, chicken, pork, beef, or eat alone. Enjoy...