Inside The Hills Market

A Very Ohio Autumn: CSA Recipes, Week 17 (2009): Eggplant

Eggplants might be one of the more versatile vegetables we have. Beautiful in color and mild in taste, these vibrant late summer and early autumn gems star in many a main course, side dish and dip. Read below for Mandy's take on Baba Ghanouj, as well as two other recipes for your September eggplants.

You can taste Mandy's creation for free on The Veranda tonight from 6.30 to 8.30 p.m. We'll also be pouring wine and beer. The wines are listed below.

Hayman & Hill Interchange 2007, Santa Barbara $2.00/sample, $3.50/glass 

A Very Ohio Summer: CSA Recipes, Week 16 (2009): Onions

Today's recipes feature one of the most versatile items in the produce department (and the CSA bin): onions. Savory, sweet, crunchy or soft, we love them.

Today, you can taste Mandy's Smothered Chicken - with an onion-spiked salsa - on The Veranda alongside samples from La Chatelaine. As always, we'll be selling wine and beer. Stop by between 6.30 and 8.30 to feast!

A Very Ohio Summer: CSA Recipes, Week 15 (2009): Carmen Peppers

There may not be prettier peppers than the Carmen Peppers that we untucked in today's CSA share from Wayward Seed Farm. These sweet red peppers look like an elongated version of a bell pepper, and are just as versatile. Mandy decided to use the color and crispy texture to complement a pizza (recipe below).

You'll be able to try the pizza, as well as the wares from Oink, Moo, Cluck for free tonight on The Veranda from 6.30 - 8.30 p.m. We'll also be pouring wine and beer.

A Very Ohio Summer: CSA Recipes, Week 14 (2009): Tomatillos

Tomatillos - or ground cherries - showed up in this week's share from Wayward Seed Farm. These fruits are frequently used in Tex-Mex dishes and boast a lemony-herb flavor when cooked. Woody, our produce guy, says that they store well, so if you're holding off for a few end-of-season tomatoes to start the salsa-making process, you'll be fine to store them in the refrigerator. But if you're ready to use them, below are a few recipes we've found.

You can taste the pasta tonight on The Veranda as part of our A Very Ohio Summer from 6:30 to 8:30. As always, we'll be serving wine and beer, sampling food and featuing an Ohio vendor. Tonight, you'll taste the wares of Stan Evans Bakery.

A Very Ohio Summer: CSA Recipes, Week 13 (2009): Fennel

The cool, rainy weather this summer has made for a bountiful harvest of fennel from our friends at Wayward Seed Farm. We've featured fennel once already this summer, but there are so many great uses for Thomas Jefferson's favorite vegetable, that we're giving you a few more suggestions. As the season gets ready to turn, and warm dishes sound so much more palatable, be prepared for heartier options coming from the Professional Foodies in our kitchen. Meanwhile, enjoy the nice citrus-spiked salad featured below, as well as a few others.

Tonight's Ohio Vendor, by the way, is Powell's own Betsy's Brittle. Stop in, try Mandy's Marinated Garden Salad, and grab a beer or glass of wine at the bar. Dessert (free samples from Betsy's Brittle) will be delicious.

A Very Ohio Summer: CSA Recipes, Week 12 (2009): Green Beans

It looks like it's time for green beans in Ohio, and we're ready. Below are some recipes for green beans, including one from Jen that helps you use all of your summer produce.

Tonight on The Veranda, we'll be doing Round Two of Beer Floats with Snowville Creamery. Stop by to try Harpoon Cider, Lakefront Pumpkin Ale, Lindemans Cassis Lambic and Southern Tier Jah-Va Stout paired up with ice cream made by Snowville Creamery. We'll also be pouring wine and sampling Mandy's Green Beans with Roasted Shallots & Tomatoes.

A Very Ohio Summer: CSA Recipes, Week 11 (2009): Sweet Corn

"People have tried and tried, but sex is not better than sweet corn."

Garrison Keillor's quote about sweet corn is a classic. And now, we're happy to announce, is the time for sweet corn. Wayward Seed Farm's first batch of bi-colored corn showed up in our share today, along with some more tomatoes. Mandy quickly put both to use in a recipe below. We found a few more recipes using corn, including a soup (with corn relish) and a potato salad. Happy eating!

We'll be demoing Mandy's Simple Summer Pasta, alongside the ladies from Pattycake Bakery tonight on The Veranda. Stop by and have a glass of wine (or beer) and celebrate summer with us.

A Very Ohio Summer: CSA Recipes, Week 10 (2009)

This rainy season has made it tough on tomatoes, but we're happy to announce that they're finally here. This weeks share of produce from Wayward Seed Farm featured the usual fare (scarlet nantes, swiss chard, striped beets) as well as a couple of cups of some wonderful tart cherry tomatoes. Although they're perfect to pop in your mouth as a mid-afternoon snack, we came up with a few recipes for cherry tomatoes, including a lovely salsa by Mandy Rich, one of our newest Professional Foodies. Read below for more details.

A Very Ohio Summer: CSA Recipes, Week 9 (2009)

We're not quite sure how Jamie and Adam managed to color coordinate this week's vegetable share, but somehow the majority of the produce we received was purple. The basil, the potatoes, the carrots, the bell peppers and even the cauliflower came in shades of purple. Mandy used many of the ingredients for her Summer Graffiti Couscous, and, with the help of a few food blogs, we found a few recipes that help celebrate the bright colors of the season.

As always, we'll be serving up free samples of Mandy's recipe tonight on The Veranda. Stop in, have a glass of wine (listed below) or beer. You'll be able to taste samples of Montezuma chips and salsas as well.

A Very Ohio Summer: CSA Recipes, Week 8 (2009)

The ladies in the kitchen squealed with joy this week when they saw what was in our sample box of produce from Wayward Seed Farm. They threw aside the swiss chard and went straight for the carrots. Right there in the center of the box were three types of carrots in bright contrasting colors: orange, purple and white. These gorgeous varieties of carrots - best-sellers for Wayward Seed Farm - have names that are as unique as the colors: Scarlet Nantes, Dragon Carrots and White Satin Carrots. If you're not part of the Wayward Seed Farm CSA, no worries. We'll be serving them up in our Chef's Case this week, and Woody will have some in the produce department first thing Thursday morning!

Look below for some recipes for these lovelies. Ohio ingredients are in green.

Tonight's Ohio Vendor: Ludwig's Buckeye Magic Rub with Gerber Chicken