Columbus Foodie

I hate it when I have high expectations of a place, only to be super disappointed at the reality. Latitude 41 doesn’t help matters any by billing itself as a “destination restaurant”, which brings to mind places like Alinea or the French Laundry, places where I would make a trip to a geographical location just to eat at said restaurant. It fell so short of living up to the hype that it went beyond disappointed into the realm of comical.

Our journey to our “destination” began with an inauspicious false start on Sunday - a day on which, according to their web site, they are open from 12-2 for lunch. We arrived around 1, to be greeted by and empty dining room. We stood around for a couple of minutes, with the occasional chef staring at us but making no attempt to approach, until one came over a few minutes later and informed us they were closed. “But your website says that you’re open”, I say, to which I get a shrug, a quick “you can order takeout at the bar if you like” and him turning around and walking away.

Since we had a gift certificate that we had to use, we left and came back this afternoon, again around 1pm, well within the realms of their lunch service. After being seated, our waitress filled our water glasses half way, and proceeded to disappear for quite a while. We caught her long enough when she came back to order our appetizer to share, a Lamb Sausage and Butternut Squash Flatbread ($13). The description promised a delight of flavors - the aforementioned squash and sausage, along with olive oil, rosemary, white wine, grana padano and gruyere. What we received was quite underwhelming, a glorified cracker with a sprinkling of ingredients, which overall was quite blurry and bland. The secondary ingredients were all but undetectable, and overall the dish was a mess - kind of like when you reheat something bready in the microwave - it came out barely warm, with only the insides of the flatbread being truly edible. For the price, I expected something that would blow me away. What I received instead was something I could reproduce (and better!) in my own kitchen at a fraction of the price. Definitely not a good start.

For his entree, my husband chose the Beef Stroganoff ($13), which was actually quite good - nice tender chunks of beef in a creamy flavorful gravy, served over what I believe is fresh papardelle pasta. Decent sized portion, although a bit light on the beef, but definitely worth ordering again.

I didn’t fare so well. Here’s where the comedy of errors begins. I decide to go with the Latitude 41 Burger ($11), which is billed on the menu as being served with cheddar, lettuce, tomato, pickled red onion, brioche and horseradish aioli. I ordered it medium rare, as I usually do when ordering burgers. Medium rare because most places overcook burgers just a bit, and medium rare usually ends up as medium - cooked, but with pink in the middle. The burger is supposed to come with your choice of either mixed green salad, fresh fruit, or Truffle Parmesan fries. I went with the fries.

Unfortunately, what I got is a well done burger with fries that had no sign whatsoever of either truffle or Parmesan - not even a hint of it in aroma, let alone flavor. Know right now that I’m the type of person who *hates* sending food back - I hate confrontation, or making a big deal out of things, and even if I’m in the right, I feel like a heel for doing it. But I do it anyway, because the burger was so well done that it was beyond edible for me.

So I wait a few minutes, out comes burger #2. Just as overdone as the first one, so I tell the waitress, who shrugs and is like “sorry you don’t like it”. I see I’m getting nowhere so I ask if the floor manager is around (so I can order something else at this point, as I’m batting 0 for 2 with burgers) - she gets the chef, who comes and stands in front of me with his arms crossed, and says to me “you’re only taking a bite - I cooked it myself, it’s medium rare, so cut it in half” which I proceed to do and show him that it’s brown throughout. He kind of mumbles something about cooking it again and walks away quickly.

A few more minutes pass, and he comes out with the burger personally. He tells me to be careful, the plate is hot. I cut into it again - still brown throughout but at this point I’m about sick of the back and forth and try to eat it. I tried, I really did. I just couldn’t. I don’t know what they did the third time, but it had the consistency of pure raw meat, with the color of fully done. It was, as Gordon Ramsay puts it, “the dogs dinner”. It was beyond gross. Here’s a blurry (but pretty accurate) picture of what I’m talking about:

I had totally lost my appetite for burgers at this point, and the fries I think were just reheated from before under the Salamander, so I asked her to just take it away, make sure I wasn’t charged for it and that I wanted to order a different entree which I had no problem paying for - so I went and ordered the Beef Stroganoff, the only item I had at this point that we had found to be good. I still felt like a heel, but I had gone 0 for 3 with the burgers, and at that point just figured they had no clue how to cook them. If chain restaurants can cook burgers to order, I certainly would have the same expectations of a “destination” restaurant. I fully believe that there are realistic expectations and unrealistic expectations when it comes to dining out - having your food cooked to order certainly is a realistic expectation, especially for a restaurant in this price range.

The Beef Stroganoff, like my husband’s, was quite good. We were almost afraid to order dessert at this point, but since the gift certificate was basically a $50 “use it or lose it” deal, we had to order it to use up the rest of the money.

We were actually pleasantly surprised with dessert. Paul went with a Warm Valhrona Chocolate Cake ($8), which was served with a warm berry compote and what they said was a mixed berry sorbet (which for all the world tasted to me like Jeni’s Cherry Lambic, not mixed berry). Good combination of flavors, but served on a plate that made taking pictures difficult.

I went with the Apple-Raisin Bread Pudding ($8), which was served warm with a rich Jack Daniels anglaise and caramel sauce. Good balance of flavors, slight issues with texture because there were some dry spots that were a bit chewy. Still, not a bad rendition of a classic dish.

Overall, we were quite underwhelmed with our experience at Latitude 41. Service was spotty, there’s severe issues with the food, and it definitely didn’t live up to the hype and build-up. Our lunch ended up taking almost 2 1/2 hours. For an establishment that pushes the fact that it uses local ingredients, I didn’t see many listed on the menu - which I find difficult to understand with the abundance of local producers that are still putting out great Ohio produce, meat, and dairy. Unfortunately, in the end it suffered the same fate that most hotel restaurants do - underwhelming, inconsistent food for expense account budgets. What Latitude 41 seeks out to do is great in concept - at this point, I just find they’re lacking in execution.

If you’d like to go: Latitude 41, 50 N. 3rd St, Columbus (Downtown), 614.233.7541

I think we stumbled upon Robin’s Italian Cafe by accident a few years ago. It was right after Robin had taken over Butch’s, a restaurant she had worked at since she was a teenager. We were enchanted immediately. You won’t find ground-breaking cuisine at Robin’s - this is more a type of place you go when you’re looking for Italian comfort food - the kind that’s filling and messy and not much to look at, but warms your belly like no other. Not to say that Robin’s is pedestrian or bad in any way, it’s just very unassuming Italian chow, just like the owner herself.

We had a meetup there a few months ago, and they went out of their way to accommodate our group of over 20 people, most of whom wanted separate checks. They handled that and the needs of our group with surprising ease and friendliness. But then again, I’ve never had anything less than a friendly experience here.

Our waitress on this day was especially friendly and engaging. Upon greeting us, she brought us a basket of basic supermarket Italian bread and a margarine-based garlic spread, but hinted to us that we might prefer to use their house vinaigrette as a dipping sauce in lieu of the margarine - oh my, she was right. It took something that wasn’t impressive and made it a bread basket worth digging into repeatedly. So keep that suggestion in mind if you decide to go.

All dinners come with the bread, your choice of soup (wedding or minestrone), their house salad, and your entree. Very, very filling and very inexpensive comparatively.

For our soup, we both went with the wedding soup. It’s a bit different than most wedding soups in that it doesn’t have any meatballs, but it has great flavor nonetheless, with shredded chicken, and large chunks of carrots and celery along with the obligatory acini pasta in a tasty chicken broth. The soup came out piping hot, but unfortunately the pasta was overcooked just a touch.

The salad at Robin’s is where it’s at - love, love, love the fact that it has pasta in it interspersed with fresh, crisp veggies. I love it with French dressing, while my husband prefers Italian. Still, it’s one of the few salads of which I will eat every last bite.

But the true gem at Robin’s? The Create Your Own Pasta entree, where for a base price $9.95, you get your choice of pasta and sauce (extra toppings are at additional cost, which are pretty reasonable). My pasta of choice is their homemade linguine with butter and cream sauce, to which I added a meatball, sausage, spinach and tomatoes. We like to “pink it up” a bit to make it a tomato cream sauce by getting a side of marinara. Yes, they have a tomato cream sauce but it’s more tomato than cream, so we’ve found this is the best way to get the results we’re looking for. In any case, the possible combinations that one can come up with are numerous, with only your imagination as the limit. Even if what you’re looking for isn’t listed on the menu, if it’s possible for them to do it, they will. Robin’s is accommodating that way, even to our strange requests.

No room for appetizers or dessert, as the entree with soup, salad and bread resulted in our taking home half of our pasta because were too full to finish. So, in closing, what can you expect at Robin’s? Straightforward homey Italian food, friendly service, huge portions, at a great price.

If you’d like to go: Robin’s Italian Cafe, 4720 E. Main Street, Whitehall. 614.864.7300.

I absolutely love going to Slow Food Columbus events. The dinners are usually nothing short of amazing. So when Trattoria La Tavola paired up with Wayward Seed Farm in order to offer a seven course harvest dinner on October 26th, many Slow Food members and friends decided to accept their gracious invitation to attend.

I love what they do over at Wayward Seed - I cannot tell you how many heirloom varieties of fruits and veggies I’ve enjoyed from the farmer’s markets this year due to their dedication to picking stellar produce to grow. And those fresh, local ingredients, in the hands of a skilled chef? Well, see for yourself.

The only unfortunate thing about the dinner is that it was held in the evening, after it was already dark. My pictures are less than stellar, since I was forced to use a flash to get any picture at all. Hopefully my descriptions of the dishes will do them the justice that my photographs will not.

The first course was a house-cured bresaola, which was served with olive oil dressed arugula, pickled Jimmy Nordello sweet pepper and shaved Pecorino Romano cheese. The bresaola was delicious, and the peppers were both sweet and piquant at the same time - pickling them was just the thing needed to preserve both qualities long enough for them to be available for the dinner. The cheese was a nice offset to the sweetness of the peppers.

The second course was playfully called “PB & J”, which was quite literally, a sandwich made from home-made brioche spread with foie gras and chicken liver pate and Ohio concord grape puree. It was definitely unusual - I absolutely loved the concord grape puree, but found the combination of the pate and the grape puree together a little cloying.

The third course was a House Cured Pancetta Crostino, with lacinato kale, poached quail eggs and California dry jack cheese. The pancetta and the kale (which was sweetened lightly with I don’t know what) were absolutely fantastic, and I felt like the cheese once again was a great offset to the other ingredients. I thought the bread and quail egg weren’t completely necessary to the success of the dish, and just took away from the quality of the other ingredients.

The fourth course was my personal favorite - the White Acorn Squash Raviolo, with winter savory Amish brown butter and aged Oakvale gouda. The particular squash variety they used, a Thelma Sanders heirloom variety, needed nothing more than salt and pepper to make it one of the best pasta fillings I’ve ever encountered. It was sweet, naturally buttery and creamy and just out of this world. I bought all they had available over the next market or two, and now have two of the squash sitting in my pantry waiting for me to try to recreate this fantastic dish. If this were on the menu regularly at Trattoria La Tavola, I’d definitely be eating there a lot more often than I do.

The fifth course, a Sauteed Muscovy Duck over California dry jack polenta topped with Aunt Molly ground cherry and white raisin mostarda, used one of my favorite ingredients (ground cherries) in a savory way that I never thought of using it. The duck was cooked perfectly, and the sweetness of the mostarda was just what the dish needed to shine.

The sixth course, a Fennel and Herb Crusted Ohio Pork Loin, was a honkin’ huge (I mean huge - had to be at least an 8 oz portion) thick slice of pork loin served with a chanterelle mushroom reduction and green mountain potatoes pommes anna. The serving was so substantial I had a hard time finishing it after all the other courses. The potatoes were prepared simply, with lots of butter.

The seventh course, a Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin Budino with Maple Gelato, was also a favorite. It paired a bread-pudding like sweet pumpkin pudding with homemade maple ginger gelato, pecan, hickory nut and marsala caramel. Just yum all around - the combination of flavors was nothing short of perfection.

My tablemates made the experience so much more fun, and included Anne, someone who I later found out was a regular reader (hi there!), and someone whose face I was familiar with as they’re an employee at my one of my favorite stores, Trader Joes. It was a lovely experience, and I’m so glad I decided to go even if Paul wasn’t able to attend.

If you’ve been on the fence about whether or not to attend one of the Slow Food Columbus dinners or a special dinner that encompasses Slow Food principles, I recommend you take the plunge and give it a try. I’ve yet to experience anything that didn’t knock my socks off. Honestly, it’s some of the best food I’ve eaten in this town. Give the next one a try (after I get my tickets, of course!).

I’ve been to Cafe Shish Kebab (the sister restaurant to Cafe Istanbul) occasionally for dinner, but was told they had a lunch special that was - yes, I’m going to say it - pretty special. For $8.95, you get three courses - a choice of appetizer, a choice of entree, and a dessert of their choice. Other than dessert, there’s about 7 or 8 choices for each course. Excuse the harsh lighting, I took advantage of sitting outside when we were having unseasonably warm weather last week.

The first thing they did was bring out a loaf of Pide (Turkish bread), which is nice and crusty on the outside, and fluffy soft on the inside. They served it to me with some oil that had what I believed to be sun-dried tomatoes and other spices in it.

For my appetizer, I chose their Baba Ganoush, one of my favorite dishes at this location. The portion size was quite substantial, and the flavor was fabulous - nice combination of smoky eggplant and tahini that enhanced rather than overpowered the natural sweetness of the vegetable. The texture was nice and smooth, unlike the dip I had at their sister restaurant.

For my entree, I went with Chicken Shish Kebab. I’ve never had a bad kebab by them, and the chicken is suprisingly one of the more flavorful and tender ones - the juices served to flavor the buttery rice they sat upon. Vegetables are extraneous and honestly wouldn’t be missed if they weren’t there.

The dessert was a little disappointing - a tiny square of baklava that was sort of on the dry side. While it did serve as a nice palate cleanser, it was a bit of a letdown after the two fabulous dishes that preceded it.

Service was slow but my older waiter was very kind, as he always is when I come to their restaurant. Definitely worth the price of admission, but if you only have an hour for lunch, you may have a problem getting back on time. A great way to experience a great restaurant on a smaller scale.

If you’d like to go: Cafe Shish Kebab, 1450 Bethel Road, Columbus, 614.273.4444

Another quick post about the last hurrah of summer. I absolutely love Neapolitan ice cream, but unfortunately most of the time I see that flavor, it’s from one of those cheap, fluffy brands that I can’t stomach. So this summer when Jeni’s still had strawberry ice cream, I made my own version of Neapolitan:

Absolutely divine. And yes, I know it’s November. I still can’t get enough Jeni’s ice cream, as the pints of Heirloom Pumpkin Mascarpone and Goat Cheese w/ Fig Almond Cognac will attest.

It travels well, too - with the aid of dry ice. I brought some up to Cleveland last week for a friend’s birthday, and I believe it was just as rock hard frozen when it got there as when they packaged it up 6 hours earlier.

I apologize for the delay in getting this posted - I spent most of last night in Cleveland, so I didn’t have an opportunity to post before leaving. Well, this was pretty much the last week for farmers marketing, with Worthington closed for the season and Clintonville ending this week. There are supposed to be a few stragglers coming to the North Market every week for the next month or so, but as a general rule, it’s done until spring. Luckily, this year, we have *two* winter markets, one in Worthington and one in Clintonville. More about that later.

I wasn’t in much of a rush yesterday, and slept in until 8:30 or so, getting to the markets a little after that when it was fully light out. There wasn’t much on my list this week. I knew I had to stop at Wayward Seed Farm to get some of that wonderful heirloom Thelma Sanders White Acorn Squash (more about that later, too - in my post about last week’s Harvest Dinner at Trattoria La Tavola). There was one left, so I definitely grabbed it asap.

Someone brought the last of their peppers, which they picked before the heavy frost we had this past week.

And someone else (Toad Hill, I believe) had the most tender looking lettuce - I’ll miss fresh salad greens.

I did manage to get some of the pumpkin quark and fresh cheddar curds that everyone has been raving about at Blue Jacket Cheese (not picture) - here’s a picture of their goat cheese roulade:

The season at Wayward Seed seems to go on and on - they brought these beautiful breakfast radishes:

Along with some pak choi (something I’ve never cooked with, but want to eventually):

And yams - I’m not sure if these were from Wayward Seed or Persinger Farms:

These turnips were from Persinger Farms, who said this is their last week at the market as well.

After rounding out my purchases at the North Market, I headed over to Clintonville, where I picked up my eggs and dropped off some of the cartons I’ve been saving up. I was really disappointed to find out that Worthington Winter Market had turned down her application as a vendor this year, and done so too late for her to get a spot at the Clintonville Winter Market, essentially leaving her out in the cold this year. Sad, because 2Silos would be a great addition, and one of the reasons I went to last year’s market so faithfully.

After saying goodbye to some of my favorite farmers, it was off to come back home, wistful that it’s all over again (barring special markets and the winter market) until next year. While it will allow me to sleep in each weekend, it’s still a major part of my life that I’ll miss. I’ll try to keep you guys updated about the winter markets, although I can’t guarantee that I’ll go every week.

So which markets did you go to yesterday? Is there anything you stocked up on?

Not quite. But not for lack of a valiant attempt by a couple hundred people who made 379 different dishes. Definitely short of of the 602 needed to beat the record, but an impressive spread nonetheless. I mean, when is the last time you went to a potluck that had almost 400 different dishes?

The event, which was held this past Sunday the 12th at the Maple Grove United Methodist Church in Worthington, was attended by a huge variety of people - other food bloggers (I saw Jim, Anne, and Bethia there), reporters and photographers, heck, I even saw my former boss there. Go figure. The weather couldn’t have been better - clear and sunny, but the 80-degree heat kept me at least away from any dishes containing mayo (better safe than sorry!)

Here’s just a few dishes that we saw there:

So what did our party make and bring? Well, Joe made a really delicious pork loin that was wrapped in peppered bacon and cooked all night in a low oven. It really disappeared quickly, being one of the few protein items:

He also made a really good 32-Bean soup.

I made my Puerto Rican Roast Pork (Pernil), and my mom whipped up a batch of her Arroz con Gandules (Rice and Beans), which both seemed to go over well.

All in all, it was an enjoyable afternoon. I hope they give it another try next year, because I had a blast.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get downtown nearly as often as I should to dine. As a resident of Columbus’ suburbs, I find it a bit daunting to navigate the downtown streets with its one way streets and parking meters, trying to find parking. So with the goal of forcing myself to get downtown more, I bought a bunch of discounted dining certificates to restaurants all over Columbus, including downtown.

One of the places I bought certificates for was TipTop Kitchen and Cocktails on Gay Street, near Third. I had only been in the TipTop once before, a year prior, for drinks. I had meant to go back, really I had. But by the time I got a hankering to go, it was either the middle of the lunch rush or during dinner time, and I just didn’t feel up to dealing with the logistical issues.

The idea to go to TipTop dawned on my husband and I in mid-afternoon, well after the lunch rush, but way before parking would become an issue. So we headed downtown and promptly found a metered space about half a block away from the restaurant.

It was a beautiful day, clear and in the 70’s, so we decided to eat outside on the cute little patio they’ve got set up there. I think everyone else had the same idea, as no one was inside - everybody was just outside enjoying the cool breeze and probably one of the last nice days we’ll have for a while.

Our waitress was quick, charming and not shy about making suggestions when my husband asked. One of the nice touches I noticed right off the bat was the huge size of the beverages/water that she brought out - no asking for constant refills, that’s for sure!

For an appetizer, we decided on a basket of sweet potato fries ($5), which are served with spicy mayo. These were so absolutely addictive, that I’ll go back if for nothing else but these. Subtle sweet flavor in a nice crispy fry, and they had my heart with the seasoned salt (I’m a sucker for fries sprinkled with seasoned salt). The spicy mayo that they pair it with goes perfectly - my only complaint is that I wish they had just a bit more mayo with it, because even conserving the mayo, I ran out before the basket was gone. Just filling the little Solo cup to the top would make all the difference in the world.

We shared a crock of Spicy Vegetarian Corn Chowder ($5), which had a nice kick to the creamy soup that was loaded with huge chunks of potato and other vegetables. I’m a die-hard omnivore, and let me tell you, I didn’t miss the meat at all.

I had originally ordered the Tilapia ($10), which is drizzled in adobo sauce and served with chipotle risotto and steamed veggies, for myself. My husband took a couple of bites and insisted that I trade entrees with him right then and there. He was so smitten with the risotto, and the combination of the fish and the risotto, that he wanted it for himself. His entree-lust was so great that he threatened to order a portion of this to-go if I didn’t trade.

The fish was excellent. Nicely sauteed, with the right amount of browning. The risotto? Pretty freaking amazing. I love a good risotto, and I fell in love with this at first bite. Who knew you could find good risotto in a comfort food joint in the middle of downtown?

So what did I get in trade for my tilapia and risotto? What did my husband pass up for what was behind door #2? A really freaking good Ohio Style Monte Cristo Sandwich ($10), which he had ordered with potato salad on the side because the eggplant fries we wanted haven’t been available for the past few weeks ::sniff:: The sandwich was a properly made Monte Cristo, unlike the last few I’ve had, which were just plain old sandwiches dipped in a disgustingly thick batter. No, this was beautiful - the only thing battered on this puppy was the bread, as it should be. And in between those battered bread slices was some nicely shaved turkey, ham, swiss and a rockin’ honey mustard sauce. With just a little Smuckers strawberry jam spread on it, I didn’t regret my trade at all.

The potato salad was one of the best I’ve had in a restaurant, because it reminded me of mine - not sweet, very creamy, nice big chunks of potato, and extremely flavorful.

We really wanted to try dessert, but they didn’t have any available, as they had run out over the weekend. If there is any fault to be found with my meal at all, it was the unavailability of certain items, which is a minor logistical issue that is easily overlooked unless it becomes a chronic problem.

So color us pleasantly surprised. We had an idea that it would be good, but we didn’t know that it would be *that* good. So parking issues be damned, I’ll definitely be back.

If you’d like to go: TipTop Kitchen and Cocktails, 73 E. Gay St, Columbus, 614.221.8300

The theme for this month’s Homegrown Gourmet is “Game Day Dishes” - this recipe fits the bill in a couple of ways. Columbus is a HUGE football town. I mean HUGE. It’s all Buckeyes, all the time. And one of the places people congregate on game day is Cap City (considering it’s only a mile or so away from the Shoe, I can see why). And since this recipe is by an Ohio-based restaurant, there’s another connection there. Either way, its one of my favorites.

I’ve had Cap City Fine Diner’s meatloaf recipe for a while now (thanks to the nice chef who posts his recipes online), and have even blogged about making it before. But I’ve never made it before in it’s original incarnation, complete with meatloaf and mashers and onion strings and barbecue sauce. It’s one of their signature dishes, and one of the reasons I visit the restaurant from time to time. So here’s my version of the Cap City Meatloaf Platter, as true to the original as possible:

Cap City Meatloaf
recipe courtesy Cap City Fine Diner (Columbus, OH)

2 pounds ground beef
8 ounces ground veal
1 1/4 pounds ground pork
1 diced medium white onion
4 cups sliced shiitake mushroom
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped thyme
1 teaspoon chopped sage
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic puree
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons salt and pepper
1/4 cup barbecue sauce (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Saute mushrooms in olive oil and set aside. Saute onions until caramelized and set aside. In large mixer, add beef, veal, pork, eggs, bread crumbs, herbs, garlic, and cream. Mix well. Add mushrooms and onions, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper. Put mixture into 6×9x4-inch loaf pan, pushing down firmly to pack meat into place. Cover with foil. Place loaf pan into a cooking pan at least 6-inches deep with 3 inches of water in the bottom. Cook in oven for 90 minutes. Remove foil and cover top of meatloaf with barbecue sauce. Cook for another 30 minutes.

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Cap City Barbecue Sauce
recipe courtesy Cap City Fine Diner (Columbus, OH)

3 cups ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoons molasses
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 pinch cayenne powder
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine all ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Allow to cool and refrigerate until needed.

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Cap City Buttermilk Mashers
recipe courtesy Cap City Fine Diner (Columbus, OH)

note: the recipe didn’t specify quantity of potatoes, so I used around 5 lbs, and added extra ingredients as necessary to taste - it’s simple enough to scale down as necessary

1/2 pound butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh chives
salt and pepper to taste

Simmer potatoes until fork tender. Heat buttermilk and butter. Mash potatoes and slowly add buttermilk and butter. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh chives.

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Chili Onion Rings
recipe courtesy Cap City Fine Diner (Columbus, OH)

2 medium-sized, thinly sliced white onion
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pepper

Marinate onions in buttermilk. Mix flour, chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. Dredge onions through flour and spice mixture. Fry in oil at 350-degrees until onions are a golden brown.

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There isn’t a recipe for bread on the site, so I just took a nice crusty bread and spread it with some garlic butter and toasted it under the broiler for a minute or so until browned. To assemble, I laid down a piece of bread, topped it with a nice thick slice of meatloaf, a mound of mashed potatoes, which I drizzled barbecue sauce on (Cap City doesn’t put the BBQ sauce on the potatoes, I did it this way as a personal preference). Topped the whole thing with some onion straws. Yum.

Am I the only one having a hard time reconciling how late in the year it is already? When I woke up this morning at around 6:40ish, it was still almost pitch black outside, and I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed. Much, much different from the middle of summer where it’s already bright by the time I wake up…

But it seems as though everyone else had as much difficulty dragging themselves out of bed too. When I got there at my usual time of 7:30, hardly anyone was set up, so I wandered around for a few minutes just taking pictures and chatting here and there.

Fridge space is at a premium here right now, so I knew in advance it would be a light market day for me (just how light, I didn’t realize - can you all believe I got out of all 3 markets for $20 total?!?). I wanted to get stuff that could store, or that wasn’t particularly perishable. It is a beautiful day, just a tiny bit nippy but mostly mild - they say it will get up into the low 80’s for this afternoon’s game against Purdue.

One item I’ve been thinking about all week is the dumpling squash at Persigner Farms. So I picked up a couple of those, with a dish in mind for the next week or two.

As is usual this time of year, most of what was available this week at the market was winter squash, apples, and other root vegetables, with the very last residuals of summer fruit like tomatoes, sweet corn, raspberries, and peppers. I did a lot of browsing, and looked at things like these beautiful radishes from Elizabeth Telling Farms, but ultimately, just ended up getting the two squash.

Worthington was a bit of a different story. I knew I wouldn’t be getting much, so I left my shopping cart in the car, but there was great selection today. One of the things I got was this great big bunch of rainbow chard for $2. Don’t remember where, unfortunately.

Also admired this Dwarf Cajun Hibiscus, and wondered how something so pretty could manage to grow in October?!?

A lot of the farmers were making and selling decorations made out of decorative gourds, dried corn, and straw - like this cute one I found on display at one of the vendors at Worthington:

I talked the farmers from Pop & Judy’s Patch into bringing some of their dried beans to market next week. He says he grew many different varieties this year (a couple of dozen), so I can’t wait to see what they’ve got! I also picked up a couple of baskets of new potatoes, and made my requisite stop at Sassafras Bakery - this week I got a couple of elderberry hand pies, a bourbon pumpkin tart, and a small buttermilk pecan pie. All three are quite delish.

It’s getting to be that time of year where I think about buying maple syrup. So many choices, so little time.

I actually did make it to Clintonville this week - Denise and the others at 2Silos were worried because they hadn’t seen me for weeks. The nice people at Snowville Creamery gave me a half gallon of short-dated cream - anyone have recipes that use a ton of cream (since it’s dated today, and I want to use it up as quickly as possible)?

Kevin from Just This Farm had some really nice looking garlic:

And is it just me, or does Blue Jacket Cheese seem to get a new variety every time I look?

All in all, it was quite a pleasant day to go to the market. Where did you go this morning and what did you get? What’s on the menu for this week?