Fresh black trumpet mushrooms - the season is now!

From the chanterelle family, black trumpets result in the silkiest texture when cooked.  Wash the stems under a stream of running water, then saute in a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat.  A hint of salt is nice, followed by a splash of a good, deep red wine such as a zinfandel.  Finish with a pat of butter stirred in off the heat.

A trip north this past weekend resulted in a great visit to the Tamworth farmers' market, and an awesome score of freshly foraged wild mushrooms, deep green bunches of celery, and succulent red bell peppers as big as Italian eggplants -- perfect timing for turning a recent purchase of New Roots Farm grass-fed ground beef and Barker's Farm heirloom potatoes into a luscious, comforting Sunday night dinner!  Tonight's dish: Pan seared grass-fed beef burgers with a luscious black trumpet mushroom-zinfandel sauce, garnished with Sun Gold cherry tomatoes and accompanied by buttermilk mashed potatoes with leeks, red bell pepper, celery leaf and aged sheep's milk cheese.  Phew, I'm out of breath.

What can I say, we LOVE grilled flatbreads, especially those with succulently sweet, summer heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese!  Y-U-M!!

Bull's Heart, Valencia, and Black Prince heirloom tomatoes strut their colors on this grilled pizza made with local flour for the dough and fresh cheese from Vermont.  Basil from my garden certainly could have been treated a little more kindly and chiffonaded instead of torn wrecklessly in a fit of hunger furor!  :)  

 All that's missing from the above picture is the gorgeous and delicious salad made with all kinds of scrumptiously colorful local garden goodies: chopped radishes, purple carrots, sungold tomatoes, sweet red pepper, garlic scapes (the very last of the tender ones), red onion and cucumber.  Added in a bunch of crunchy chopped lettuce and a can of garbanzos just for good measure.  Light vinaigrette and you're good to go!

Who took a bite out of that slice!?!

Classic Eggplant Parmesan

Barker's Farm eggplant, homemade marinara, and cinnamon basil straight from the garden made this eggplant parmesan one of the best yet!  Modest amounts of thin slices of locally made, fresh mozzarella and grated parmesan (um, not local) in between two layers of lightly fried panko-encrusted slices of eggplant, seasoned only with salt and pepper, is a treat worth heating up the kitchen for!  Use just parmesan--the best your money can buy--for topping it off.  No cinnamon basil on hand?  Season your marinara sauce with ground cinnamon instead!  Another tip: for seasoning consistency, season the egg, not the flour, when dredging.