I spent the weekend at my parents’ farm in Grey County and what a local food weekend it was! A visit to the Owen Sound farmers’ market on Saturday morning, plus the bounty from my dad’s garden, made for delicious eating. We ate smoked rainbow trout and freshly picked greens, rhubarb and lamb from a nearby farm. I made tea with the lemon balm and a pasta dish with red fife noodles, pea sprouts and green onion.
But the most fun, perhaps, was comparing the organic eggs I bought at the market with the industrial ones my mum had in the fridge. We cracked one of each and the differences were startling–even though we knew what to expect. The egg yolk of the grocery-store egg was a pale yellow that sagged into a watery white. Whereas the farm egg was orange in colour, standing up stiff and tall with a much firmer egg white. The taste was different too–I found the industrial egg to be slightly acidic, while the organic ones from the market were smooth and creamy. I’ll post photos soon. The differences are truly remarkable.
The weekend ended with a massive radish harvest. My dad planted so many that the ground is literally exploding with them. Is there a good recipe for radish pickles?