Bob's kitchen boasts Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market as well as our onsite retail store Forland Family Market's fresh food. Dedicated customers like Bob fall in love with fresh and support local farms. Dedication of our customers is realized as local farm numbers rise. This week 7 new farms will be at the market. Summer season is ramping up quick as we see blueberries, blackberries, peaches, strawberries, squash, zucchini, beans, new potatoes, sweet corn, lettuce, vegetable transplants, flowers, herbs, and so much more that is new to the season. Gulf Seafood, especially fresh shrimp is always here as well as eggs, chicken, beef, pork and lamb. Fresh baked is a treat as well as locally roasted coffee. Food staples are plentiful! Include fresh to your kitchen this week! Here's Bob..

   Recently I had the opportunity to meet an author online through Facebook and we friended each other. Her name is Sophie Patrick and she specializes in writing books about healthy living. One of her books is entitled, Healthy Eating Made Easy: 50 Simple Tips for Healthy Living Through Clean Eating.  A lot of the information in the book is good reminder type of knowledge – things I know, but don’t practice as I should – and some of the information I found to be new things to challenge my thinking. It’s a worthwhile read and I recommend it.  The book can be downloaded to a Kindle or a Kindle app for only 99¢.

In reading the book, the section about Farmers’ Markets and why to frequent those venues caught my attention.  Attending a farmers’ market regularly offers, she states, “a place to shop for healthy whole foods.  Farmers can tell you exactly how the crops were grown or animals were raised and you can be confident you are getting the freshest product. As a bonus the foods are grown locally and therefore have less impact on the environment, and you can also feel good that you are supporting local businesses.”  [Patrick, Sophie (2016-03-01). Healthy Eating Made Easy: 50 Simple Tips for Healthy Living Through Clean Eating (Kindle Locations 399-402). Sophie Patrick. Kindle Edition.]

The ability to eat healthy, safe foods is getting more worrisome as news emerges about unhealthy practices of food suppliers, meat and seafood substitution scandals, or massive recalls of food not processed correctly that has become contaminated.  Add to those concerns, foods labeled healthy or labeled organic in the grocery stores carry a ridiculously high price tag, well out of the reach of a middle class family to eat on a regular basis.  However, when I buy meat or seafood and vegetables from the Market, I’m talking to the person in charge and not having blind faith in a massive corporation somewhere far, far away and I’m not depleting a savings account in order to eat healthy.  I’m talking to my neighbor who is charging me a fair price. 

What’s amazing for us living in Coastal Alabama is that we can shop at Coastal Alabama Farmer’s and Fishermen’s Market and Forland Family Farm year round.  With only an occasional exception for holidays, we can shop the Market two days a week and at Forland’s six days a week, which affords us the opportunity to purchase healthy foods grown locally twelve months a year. 

This week’s menu is an adaptation of the Italian classic, Chicken Cacciatore or Hunter’s Chicken, that is prepared with a slow-cooker using a chicken grown and processed in Magnolia Springs at Nature Nine Farm.  As with other recipes featured in this blog, the recipe includes at least three ingredients purchased at Coastal Alabama Farmer’s and Fishermen’s Market and/or from Forland Family Farm.

Coastal Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

Whole frozen chicken (purchased from Nature Nine Farm)

2 carrots (available from numerous vendors), diced at an angle in bite-sized pieces

2 onions (available from numerous vendors, but I prefer Vidalia onions from J&K Farm) diced

1 red bell pepper (available from numerous vendors) diced in bite-sized pieces

1 green bell pepper (available from numerous vendors) diced in bite-sized pieces

1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes [Note: I prefer Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced tomatoes]

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (from a plant I purchased at the market)

2 sprigs of fresh oregano

Montasio Cheese (from AA Farm)

Olive oil

Sea Salt

Directions:

1. Wash frozen chicken, inside and out.  Pat dry and set aside.
2. Line the bottom of the slow cooker with half of the carrots, onions, and bell peppers. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
3. Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
4. Place the frozen chicken in the slow cooker on top of the vegetables.
5. Pour the diced tomatoes over the chicken.
6. Add the remaining vegetables.
7. Line the top of the chicken and vegetables with rosemary and oregano.
8. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.
9. Cook 8 hours on low. 
10. After serving on a plate or pasta bowl, add shredded cheese to taste.  I used Montasio, but any cheese from AA Farm will do.

Note: Do not add any liquid as the chicken and vegetables will have plenty of moisture.

With the Chicken Cacciatore, I had whole wheat pasta, tossed salad (Crane Creek Farm lettuce available from Forland’s), and a glass of Pinot Grigio. 

See you at the Market and be sure to purchase Sophie Patrick’s book at Amazon.com. 

Next week:  Tomato, cucumber, avocado, whole grain rice salad