GREEN MARKET

I'm back at the Green Market in Forest Hills.  I want to make an iced box cake using those chocolate wafers and whipped cream.  It's tough getting the chocolate wafers these days.  Ronnybrook farms can provide me with the heavy cream.  I decide to get the creme fraiche as well.  The season is in for fruit such as strawberries. 

I was finally able to make my absolute favorite Ice Box Cake. Ronnybrook has heavy cream. I found the Nabisco chocolate wafers at Shop Rite. Didn't have powdered sugar so I put sugar into my spice grinder.  Whipped up cream until it thickened somewhat and then added sugar and just a touch of vanilla extract (Next time I'm thinking use instant coffee instead).  Continued whipping up. Layered cookies and cream on a plate and through it in the freezer. OMG!!! 

Green Market with Grow NYC, that promotes local food growers and farms.  The prices may be a bit higher than your supermarket, but you can't get it fresher than when it is trucked in from the source.

Terhune Orchards in Duchess County brought in a assortment of apples.  I decided to buy one of each to test out on a taste of each and combining a group to make apples juice....which will really be apple cider as it won't be strained.  I am particularly fond of fuji and gala apples as they are both crunchy and sweet.  

I couldn't pass up the apple cider and a small apple muffin cake.  You have to get to the markets early as in this case, there were very little strawberries left.  Oh, yeah....they have strawberries.

I was pretty good at picking out the fuji and gala when I got home. I could usually pick out a delicious apple as well.  I randomly chose three apples (one was a delicious) to make an apple sauce. Peeled the apples and sliced away the core. Put apples in a chopper then transferred into a pot adding some water and a bit of sugar (I like a sweet apple sauce)and cooked the heck out of it. Cooked up a pork chop to make the Brady Bunch joke of pork chops and apple sauce. Great. Still had a lot of apple sauce left. Great to nosh on. Good breakfast idea is to have the apples sauce with bacon adding just a touch of cinnamon. 

I then went over to Goodale Farms for some veggies.  Kale, a huge head of lettuce, tomatoes, green and yellow squash and garlic scapes.  They are stalks that grow from the bulb.  

RONNYBROOK FARMS FOR FRESHEST DAIRY

               This is Ronny                                                  This is Bill and his family
Do you enjoy farm fresh dairy products?  Regardless of the sale date, do you really know how many days old is the milk when you first purchase it?  Each Sunday, Bill Hosier makes the two-hour long drive from Ancramdale, New York, to the Green Market located in front of a post office in Forest Hills.  By 8 a.m. the long line of steady customers has formed for the various dairy products coming from the solar powered Ronnybrook Farms. 

 

Let’s begin with some important information. Milk and milk products are said to be the single best source of calcium. Calcium is one of the most essential minerals in our bodies.  It promotes the formation of strong bones and healthy teeth in children, and helps older people avoid osteoporosis.

Milk contains the essential proteins that we all need to stay healthy. Protein builds muscle and connective tissue, helps maintain our immune system, and contributes to the health of every organ and system in our bodies. 

According to Ronnybrook Farms owner Ronny Osofsky “homogenization is a simple process that can do serious damage to the structure of milk.  Large dairy plants have been homogenizing milk for more than fifty years. The process began in earnest when dairy manufacturers stopped using glass bottles and switched to cardboard. Consumers could no longer see the cream line on the milk and when the cream flowed from the cardboard container, many consumers thought the milk was spoiled. Homogenization is a mechanical process which pulverizes the large butterfat globules and breaks them down to micron sized pieces." 

Although the product looks “homogenous” and smooth, studies have shown that homogenized milk is not as healthy as non-homogenized milk. Instead of milk fats being digested slowly as they move through the digestive system, the fat is absorbed directly into the blood stream from the stomach.  It simply shocks the system and may act as a toxin.  There have been other studies that show that healthful enzymes that surround milk fats may be destroyed when milk is homogenized.”

“Many of our customers tell us that Ronnybrook milk is the only milk they can drink without suffering from digestion problems. We strongly believe that non-homogenized milk is simply better for you. It certainly tastes better.” 

What about yogurt?  Ronnybrook yogurts contain live, active and probiotic cultures that strengthen the immune system and promote digestive health while improving the bio-availability of various vitamins, minerals and proteins. For those who are truly lactose intolerant, yogurt is a valuable source of calcium. One cup of yogurt provides nearly 20% of the recommended protein for the average adult male.

“We raise all of our own cows,” Ronny says. “We feed them with feed grown almost exclusively on the farm. We milk them, manufacture the various Ronnybrook products and then deliver a good portion of them to our patrons in our own trucks. By concentrating our distribution in the northeast region, our milk moves from cow to table in a little more than a day and there are no artificial growth hormones.”

Back at the Green Market, Bill bring a truck load variety of Ronnybrook products. Milk: Chocolate Milk, Chocolate Low Fat, Coffee Milk, Lowfat Milk, Nonfat Milk, Heavy Cream, Half & Half, and Egg Nog. Milk comes in both bottles and plastic containers.  Chocolate milk is soooooo delicious and thick without any thickening additives. 

Drinkable Yogurt: Plain, Peach, Strawberry, Blackberry, Mango, Banana, Low Fat Blueberry Pomegranate, Low Fat Honey Vanilla. Bill loves the strawberry. I have tried the mango and blueberry pomegranate. Had to get used to a mango drink not being tart. 

Yogurt cups: Coconut, Peach, Strawberry, Vanilla, Maple Vanilla, Plain (Nonfat).  Bill loves the strawberry. 

Old Fashioned ice cream made on the farm with milk and cream from our own cows. Rich and creamy, our ice cream is 16% butterfat made with the finest hand selected seasonal ingredients.  Strawberry, Lola’s Mint Lace, Raspberry, Hudson Valley Vanilla, Sid’s Chocolate Silk, Chocolate Chip, Columbia County Coffee, Ginger Creme Brûlée, Coconut, Toasted Hazelnut Crunch, Chocolate Hazelnut, Butter Pecan, and Blueberry.

It's Sunday, June 28th. Got a half gallon of low fat milk to tide me over for at least a week.  I am trying out some of the products that I haven’t already engaged in.  Drinkable yogurts. I got: peach, strawberry, banana, and low fat honey vanilla.  I chose Maple Vanilla for the regular yogurt.  Three ice creams were enough to last awhile…I think.  Coconut, that is made with added coconut milk and chocolate covered almonds. Tasted great but not much for the almonds.  I went for two with fruit, just so I can say that I had fruit…strawberry and raspberry. Loved them both. 

Now that I have my milk, a package of Dave’s Killer Bread, white bread, and Ronnybrook cinnamon butter, breakfast called for French Toast.  Egg and milk whipped, soak (I like my French Toast that way) in mixture and fry using the cinnamon butter, which contains some sugar and salt.  No need to top with anything.  

Their butter is fresh churned in small batches at our creamery. It is rich and creamy with 84-86% butterfat content. In addition to the salted and unsalted, our flavored butters are garlic and cinnamon. Ronnybrook butter is churned in 40 gallon batches which produces a higher butter fat content and allows for very little moisture.  Bill said the cinnamon is the least demanded.  I have made French Toast using the butter in the pan and it is better than syrup! Ronnybrook Creme Fraiche is made from 40% cream, slightly tangy, slightly nutty thickened cream. I have used it in place of sour cream mixed with avocado as well as on fresh fruit.

What about the cost?  You are getting the best and freshest dairy products by going to the Green Market.  Ronnybrook products are sold elsewhere.  I compared the Green Market prices with those of Fresh Direct and Pea Pod two delivery companies that had some variety of their products.  The prices at the Green Market were less expensive. 

There are seven Green Markets just in Queens.  You can check on their site for locations and days open at www.grownyc.org/greenmarket/ourmarkets. The website for Ronnybrook Farms is www.ronnybrook.com

It's Sunday, July 12 and finally got to try the coffee milk.  That's the way I like my coffee anyway.  They use a decaf coffee syrup (sugar vs. corn syrup). Fact: Rhode Island's official beverage is coffee milk.  I'll also be testing out some of the yogurts with a powdered peanut butter.   

My friend, Judy, lives near the Green Market near Union Square.  I asked her to take some photos. 

  

FOOD FINDS FOR FLAVOR AND FUN

Man CAN live by bread alone when you buy Dave’s Killer Bread.   First let me say that I never buy bread as I thought it waste of calories and its use is so that you don’t slap the cream cheese and jelly on the palm of your hand and lick it off.  The problem is now that I have sampled Dave’s Killer Bread I keep seeking out whatever I can make a sandwich of.  Why?

It’s bread with boom! Dave, a former rock star introduced what is now the best-selling organic bread in the US.  No kidding.  Most breads are pretty boring when it comes to both taste and texture.  Then there are the artificial preservatives, fructose corn syrup and dough fillers. 

What have they got? Let’s start with the 21 whole grains and seeds.  Here are the ingredients. Organic whole wheat (organic whole wheat flour, organic cracked whole wheat), water, 21 Whole Grains and Seeds Mix (organic whole flax seeds, organic sunflower seeds, organic ground whole flax seeds, organic un-hulled brown sesame seeds, organic rolled oats, organic triticale, organic pumpkin seeds, organic un-hulled black sesame seeds, organic rolled spelt, organic millet, organic rolled barley, organic rolled rye, organic blue cornmeal, organic brown rice flour, organic yellow cornmeal, organic quinoa, organic rolled KAMUT® Khorasan wheat, organic amaranth flour, organic rolled whole wheat, organic buckwheat flour, organic sorghum flour, organic poppy seeds), organic dried cane syrup (sugar), organic wheat gluten, organic oat fiber, organic molasses, sea salt, organic cultured whole wheat, yeast.  

Now you have an idea of what to expect and NOT expect.  I have found that the breads with seeds are not annoying to my mouth or my tummy.  Here are those: Good Seed; Blues Bread (that uses blue cornmeal); Power Seed (using fruit juices instead of sugar); Seeded Honey Wheat; Rockin Rye (with caraway seeds, of course); Sprouted Wheat; and Spelt.  This is a loaf that you would not want to toss the ends, especially with all of the seeds and grains that they contain. I, who never eats “ends” did so and go glad I did! 

You can always opt for Whole Wheat or even a plain old White Bread called White Done Right with 10 g of whole grains.  Now that would be perfect for a Grilled Cheese, French Toast or a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich (I prefer cream cheese and jelly and a fried egg).  I’m also thinking a corned beef sandwich on the rye with cole slaw. 

There are so many sandwich ideas that you can come up with just to be healthy.  Think sushi rolls using the white bread totally flattened and filled…smoked salmon, cream cheese and scallions.  How about shrimp, avocado, cucumber and mayo?  Add the crunch using breads with the seeds. 

It just so happens that Fairway Market has their line of bread. Maybe not all of them.  I hear that the store in Douglaston has some. 

If you have been following articles and blog, you know how passionate I am about Fairytale Brownies.  I have even “carved” and decorated them for the upcoming Easter Holiday.  I then realized how soft they were and molded pieces into an egg shape as if you were having a chocolate Easter egg.  The absolute joy of having these brownies came to be even more joyous when I came across the perfect milk. 

The company is called Ronnybrook Farms, where the milk is not homogenized.  If you recall getting a bottle of milk delivered with the cream at the top, this is even better.  You really have to shake it up as there is more than just a thin layer of cream.  That’s the whole milk.  They have with less fat and a whole line of other products, like ice cream with 18% butter fat (just don’t eat a lot at one time if you’re concerned), butter (one is called  Cinnamon Toast), crème fraiche, and yogurt….both the kind you spoon out and ones that you drink down (I loved the strawberry one….real strawberries).  

I was checking out Fresh Direct and saw that they had their products.  I will write about Fresh Direct at another time to compare them with Peapod.  One plus for Fresh Direct is that you can go to their plant in Long Island City and pick up your order although in neither case can you pick out what you want relying on whoever does the picking and packaging.