Photo: enggul (Flickr)
An artist, a farmer and a chef use eggs in three different ways in this week's podcast.
Garden Fresh Veggies To The Rescue
Spring appears to be here to stay across south-central Indiana, and farmers and gardeners are looking ahead to their first young crops. Organizations dedicated to fighting hunger are also eagerly awaiting the harvest. Executive Director of the Community Kitchen of Monroe County Vicki Pierce explains that the Kitchen’s free meals include all sorts of seasonal fruits and vegetables given to them by the food bank, plant-a-row for the hungry programs and the farmers market.
When asked what food item the Kitchen uses the most, Pierce didn’t hesitate to say onions. Many of the recipes in the Earth Eats archives use onions, but we found one in particular that highlights them in a unique way. Keep an open mind with these Liver And Onions Tacos. Chef Bob Adkins is using local lamb livers from Fiedler Farms. Since the animals were treated well, the livers can be cooked to medium so they maintain their moistness and pink center.
Eggs Three Ways
In preparation for Easter next week, we’re devoting ourselves to eggs.
Compared to her 50 years as an artist, Gretchen Marks is relatively new to the egg business. As her chicken population has grown, she’s found that they’re inspiring her artistically. She showed me around the coop at her Sunrise Egg Farm and around her home studio just outside Columbus, Indiana.
The summer farmers market in Bloomington, Indiana starts up the first Saturday of April, but we have one more conversation to share from the winter market season. Josh Milligan was manning the table for Schacht Farms. They raise free-range chickens for eggs and meat, free-range turkeys, pastured hogs and grassfed (and finished) cattle. They had a huge variety of meat for sale that day, but it was the eggs that caught the attention of most of the customers.
And now to work with eggs in the kitchen. This salad includes young asparagus, potatoes and greens from Chef Daniel Orr’s garden, eggs from Gretchen Marks and — the best part — a hunk of soft goat cheese from Capriole Farms.
News Stories In The Program:
- Movement To Label GMOs Gains Momentum
- GMO Labeling Gains Strength In Connecticut
- ‘Pink Slime’: Schools Have A Choice
- Ammonia-Treated Beef Pulled From School Lunches, Fast Food
Stories On This Episode
High Prices Boost Farmers’ Bottom Lines
Thanks to high commodity prices and surging productivity, U.S. farmers earned a record net income of nearly $98 billion last year.
Spring At Community Kitchen Means Fresh, Seasonal Veggies
Executive Director Vicki Pierce credits the entire community, including home gardeners, for donating fresh and seasonal foods to the Community Kitchen.
Liver & Onions Tacos
Did you have a bad experience eating livers as a kid? This dish might change your mind. We're cooking local lambs' livers very simply.
Gretchen Sigmund Marks: Art Inspired By Chicken Farming
After she feeds her chickens, Gretchen Sigmund Marks uses the burlap feed sacks to make collages.
Meet A Farmer: Josh Milligan, Schacht Farms
Eggs are the star of the show at the Schacht Farms table at the Winter Farmers Market.
Salads For Spring: Two Delicious Asparagus Salads
Asparagus is one of the first vegetables to pop up in the garden in the spring. This week we have recipes for two different salads using asparagus.
