Evanston’s best chefs aren’t just the best because of their fantastic food. They are also incredibly generous when it comes to visiting the market and sharing that food with literally hundreds of folks.
This season, we’ve already been visited by Deb Evans of Peckish Pig and Feast and Imbibe’s D’andre Carter. They were warmly received by marketgoers, of course. They brought along recipes to share, but for those who did not obtain them at the events, we’re going to share them right here!
The funny thing is, one recipe is 5 lines long, and the other is over two pages. We guarantee, however, you’ll want to make both!
Roasted Beets, Burrata Cheese, Bourbon-Soaked Blueberries and Honey Basil Salad
presented by Deb Evans of Peckish Pig
Ingredients
- One medium sized roasted beet diced
- 1 cup of fresh blueberries that have been soaked in bourbon over night
- 1 8oz piece of Burrata cheese, chopped
- 3 basil leaves, cut into a chiffonade
Method
Mix together in a bowl and serve.
Cauliflower Hummus Garden Pot
presented by D’andre Carter of Feast and Imbibe
Cauliflower Hummus
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups Chopped Cauliflower
- 1 Can Chick Peas (strained and rinsed)
- 3 Tbsp Tuscan Olive Oil
- 2 Clove Garlic
- 1 large Onion Chopped
- 1 Table spoon Butter
- Kosher Salt – add as needed to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/2 cup water
Method
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a non-stick pan. Once the butter is melted add in the chopped onions. Cook the onions down until they are soft and translucent. Take the onions off the heat and let cool.
- In a small mixing bowl, toss the Chopped Cauliflower, a pinch of kosher salt and olive oil together.
- Put cauliflower on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until soft. Let cool.
- In a food processor put cooked onions, garlic, chick peas, cauliflower and tuscan olive oil. Blend until smooth. Add Salt and pepper to taste.
Pumpernickel Dirt
Ingredients:
- 1 Loaf Pumpernickel
- Kosher Salt – add as needed to taste
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut Pumpernickel bread into 1/2 inch cubes. Put the diced cubes on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about 15 minutes or until bread is hardened.
- Once the bread is done, let cool. When the bread is cooled off, put the dried cubes into the food processor and pulse until it resembles a fine powdered texture.
- After it comes out the food processor, put through a fine strainer. You can store the fine ground pumpernickel up to 30 day in a dry cool place.
Lemon Curd
Ingredients
- 3 Lemons
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 pound unsalted butter
- 5 Large Eggs
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon Kosher Salt
Method
- Using a vegetable peeler, zest 3 lemons. Try your best to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.
- Cream the butter in a mixer and add the eggs 1 at a time.
- Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and salt, mixing until combined.
- Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below a simmer.
- Remove from the heat and let cool or place in refrigerator.
Lion Head Asparagus
Ingredients
- Pencil Size Asparagus
- 1 cup Salt
- 1 cup Sugar
- 4 quarts Water (boiling)
- 3 quarts water (iced with 1 quart ice)
Method
- Cut asparagus 2 inches from the top. With a vegetable peeler, lightly peel the asparagus downwards, making sure you don’t dig too deep into the stem.
- Bring a pot of water (4 quarts) to boil. Add salt and sugar.
- Place Asparagus in the pot for 10 seconds and put in ice water for 10 minutes.
- Dry off with a paper towel.
Dried Beech Mushrooms
Ingredients
- Vegetable Frying Oil
- Beech Mushroom
- Kosher Salt
Method
- Cut off the base of the mushrooms so that each beech mushroom will be separate instead of a clump. (You may have to pull some apart.)
- Fill medium pot with vegetable oil half way. Heat oil up to 365 degrees.
- Fry the beech mushrooms until they are almost crispy.
- Put the mushrooms in a dehydrator overnight.
Assemble the Garden Pot
Ingredients
- Lemon Curd
- Cauliflower Hummus
- Pumpernickel Dirt
- Prepped Lion Head Asparagus
- Dried Beech Mushrooms
- Sunflower Sprouts
- Micro Parsley
Method
- Layer 1 tsp of Lemon Curd at the bottom of the garden pot, followed by 3 tbsp of Cauliflower Hummus.
- Sprinkle the Pumpernickel dirt over the hummus until it coats the hummus, and shake off the excess.
- To build the garden, place one of each of the Lion Head Asparagus, Dried Beech Mushroom, Sun Flower Sprouts, and Micro Parsley into the the dip so that they are standing up.
